Identity and Communicative Competence in Spanish for Specific Purposes 9781003862666, 9781032189659, 9781032189666, 9781003257141

Table of contents :
Cover
Half Title
Series
Title
Copyright
Dedication
Contents
Foreword
Preface
A Snapshot of My Journey
Purpose and Audience of the Book
Organization of the Book
¡Feliz viaje!
Reference List
1 Spanish for Specific Purposes as an Opportunity for Advocacy: Introducing the Cases of María, Petra, and Penélope
Introduction
The Why of the Book
The Purpose of the Book: SSP to Bridge the Gap
The Pedagogical Background of the Book
The Pertinent Theories and Frameworks of the Book
The Research Contexts, Participants, and Sites of the Book
Takeaways and Points for Continued Reflection
Reference List
2 Soy Puertorriqueña, Punto: María’s Journey of Constructing Her Identity as a Female Puerto Rican Producer and Journalist in the Southwestern United States
Introduction
Narration of María’s Positionality as a Nonlocal Native Speaker: Colonization, Translanguaging, and Language Ideologies
Claiming Her Puertorriqueñidad in Broadcast
Linguistic Proficiency and Commitment to an Academic Standard Variety
Maintaining Her Authentic Self Within a Gender-biased Professional Environment
Implications for EX-LL/LSP Pedagogy and Internship Design
Takeaways and Points for Continued Reflection
Reference List
3 Don’t Worry, Be Nappy: Petra’s Journey of Positioning Her Identity as a Legitimate and Authentically Multilingual/Multidialectal Speaker Across Racial Boundaries
Introduction
Narration of Petra’s Authentically Multilingual/Multidialectal Self
Self-protection in Situations of Linguistic Discomfort
Language as a Vehicle for Interpersonal Communication
Hair as a Site of Resistance in (White) European-dominated Societies
Implications for EX-LL/LSP Pedagogy and Internship Design
Takeaways and Points for Continued Reflection
Reference List
4 Penelope or Penélope?: Penélope’s Journey of (Re)Claiming Her Identity as a Legitimate Speaker and Mexican-American Woman Across Transnational Social Fields
Introduction
Narration of Penélope’s Language Acquisition Background
Journalism as a Bridge to Family and Community
Development of (Linguistic) Empathy for Generational Journeys
(Re)Claiming a Mexican-American Identity
Implications for EX-LL/LSP Pedagogy and Internship Design
Takeaways and Points for Continued Reflection
Reference List
5 Strategic Knowledge in Professional Discourse: Innovative Communicative Strategies and Their Social Functions
Introduction
Strategic Knowledge: A Brief Review
Communicative Strategies During in situ Encounters
Communicative Strategies During Premeditative Conversations
Implications for EX-LL/LSP Pedagogy and Internship Design: Expanding and Providing Instruction on Communicative Strategies and Communicative Competence
Takeaways and Points for Continued Reflection
Reference List
6 Raising Our Thinking About Critical Engagement With the Community
Introduction
Frameworks for Collaborating Critically With (Minoritized) Communities
Frameworks for Engaging in Critical EX-LL Research and Evaluation in the Community
Takeaways and Points for Continued Reflection
Reference List
Index

Citation preview

IDENTITY AND COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE IN SPANISH FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES

Identity and Communicative Competence in Spanish for Specific Purposes analyzes the experiences of three Spanish for specific purposes (SSP) students, offering insight into the intersectionality of society, politics, identity, and linguistics in community-based settings. Analyses provide empirical evidence to a growing body of work about how experiential language learning (EX-LL) enhances student preparation to utilize target languages in professional services. Ethnographic portraits and discourse analysis also illustrate how EX-LL, such as internships, provides students with opportunities to position and protect their identities using linguistic and extralinguistic resources. Discussions are presented throughout the volume on how to implement EX-LL from a critical perspective that supports students while mutually benefiting community members. Harnessing community members’ stories to contextualize and illustrate the disparities U.S. Hispanic/Latinx communities face in accessing high-quality care and services, the volume proposes SSP as a form of advocacy to narrow this gap while simultaneously enhancing students’ skills in Spanish. Designed for graduate students, educators, researchers, and program developers in SSP, second language acquisition, heritage language pedagogy, and sociolinguistics, this volume will prompt the reader to (re)imagine how language learning traverses society, politics, and identity in community-based settings. Alexis A. Vollmer Rivera holds a B.S. in Spanish education from Minnesota State University Moorhead, U.S.A, and a master’s in Spanish (linguistics), a Ph.D. in Spanish (linguistics) with a focus on second language acquisition, and a graduate certificate in computer assisted language learning from Arizona State University, U.S.A. She is a monitoring, research, and evaluation specialist with expertise in conducting research and evaluation in multilingual community contexts, including leading work spanning over ten countries with members of the community, government, civil society organizations, international agencies, academia, and media, among others. She is committed to collaborating with community members and stakeholders to amplify their experiences and build their capacity to make data-driven decisions to impact their communities positively.

ROUTLEDGE INNOVATIONS IN SPANISH LANGUAGE TEACHING Series editors Javier Muñoz-Basols University of Oxford and Elisa Gironzetti University of Maryland

The Routledge Innovations in Spanish Language Teaching series showcases cutting-edge research in the field of Hispanic Applied Linguistics. It publishes titles in English or Spanish that strike a balance between theoretical, methodological, and empirical discussions in Spanish Language Teaching. Books in the series are intended for postgraduate students, language teachers, university lecturers, and researchers who would like to keep abreast of the latest developments in the field, both from a theoretical and practical point of view. Traducción, competencia plurilingüe y español como lengua de herencia (ELH) Laura Gasca Jiménez The Peer-Effect Non-Traditional Models of Instruction in Spanish as a Heritage Language Lina M. Reznicek-Parrado Fraseología, lingüística cognitiva y español LE/L2 Clara Ureña Tormo Identity and Communicative Competence in Spanish for Specific Purposes Critically Engaging the Community Alexis A. Vollmer Rivera

For more information about this series please visit: https://routledge.com/Routledge-Innovationsin-Spanish-Language-Teaching/book-series/RISLT

IDENTITY AND COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE IN SPANISH FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES Critically Engaging the Community

Alexis A. Vollmer Rivera Series Editors: Javier Muñoz-Basols and Elisa Gironzetti Spanish List Advisor: Javier Muñoz-Basols

First published 2024 by Routledge 4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2024 Alexis A. Vollmer Rivera The right of Alexis A. Vollmer Rivera to be identified as author of this work has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Vollmer Rivera, Alexis A., author. Title: Identity and communicative competence in Spanish for specific purposes : critically engaging the community / Alexis A. Vollmer Rivera. Description: Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY : Routledge, 2024. | Series: Routledge innovations in Spanish language teaching | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2023047605 (print) | LCCN 2023047606 (ebook) | ISBN 9781032189659 (hardback) | ISBN 9781032189666 (paperback) | ISBN 9781003257141 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: Spanish language—Study and teaching—United States—Case studies. | Communicative competence—United States—Case studies. | Experiential learning—United States—Case studies. | Hispanic American students—Case studies. | Identity (Psychology)—Case studies | LCGFT: Case studies. Classification: LCC PC4068.U5 V65 2024 (print) | LCC PC4068.U5 (ebook) | DDC 460.71/073—dc23/eng/20240110 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2023047605 LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2023047606 ISBN: 978-1-032-18965-9 (hbk) ISBN: 978-1-032-18966-6 (pbk) ISBN: 978-1-003-25714-1 (ebk) DOI: 10.4324/9781003257141 Typeset in Sabon by Apex CoVantage, LLC

A mi querido esposo: Por haber emprendido este camino conmigo, ¡gracias! Has sido mi fuerza en los momentos difíciles y mi sonrisa en los momentos alegres. Sobre todo, me has enseñado que el amor sostiene todo . . . desde las grandes llanuras – a las tierras desérticas – al cinturón maicero – al 305 – hasta la isla del encanto. Como dice nuestra canción, “me has devuelto el sol.” Te amo, guapo. To my amazing family: Thank you to my mom, dad, sisters, and our wild pack of dogs. Thank you for encouraging me to pursue my ambitions – even when they point my journey away from the Midwest. Thank you for always helping me to stand tall with your love and support. You each have made an erasable impact on the woman that I have become. I love you all and am so grateful to have you as my family. To Petra, Penélope, and María: Thank you for allowing me to take part in your journeys. Not only have you taught me about the intersections of language and identity, but you have also inspired me to pursue my own dreams in an authentic way. You are three strong, intelligent, and resilient women. I know you are each changing the world while walking your unique paths.

CONTENTS

Forewordx Glenn A. Martínez, PhD MPH Prefacexii A Snapshot of My Journey  xiii Purpose and Audience of the Book  xiv Organization of the Book  xx ¡Feliz viaje! xxii Reference List  xxii 1 Spanish for Specific Purposes as an Opportunity for Advocacy: Introducing the Cases of María, Petra, and Penélope Introduction 1 The Why of the Book  3 The Purpose of the Book: SSP to Bridge the Gap  10 The Pedagogical Background of the Book  12 The Pertinent Theories and Frameworks of the Book  13 The Research Contexts, Participants, and Sites of the Book 19 Takeaways and Points for Continued Reflection  37 Reference List  39

1

viii  Contents

2 Soy Puertorriqueña, Punto: María’s Journey of Constructing Her Identity as a Female Puerto Rican Producer and Journalist in the Southwestern United States

44

Introduction 44 Narration of María’s Positionality as a Nonlocal Native Speaker: Colonization, Translanguaging, and Language Ideologies  45 Claiming Her Puertorriqueñidad in Broadcast  47 Linguistic Proficiency and Commitment to an Academic Standard Variety  59 Maintaining Her Authentic Self Within a Gender-biased Professional Environment  67 Implications for EX-LL/LSP Pedagogy and Internship Design 71 Takeaways and Points for Continued Reflection  73 Reference List  74 3 Don’t Worry, Be Nappy: Petra’s Journey of Positioning Her Identity as a Legitimate and Authentically Multilingual/Multidialectal Speaker Across Racial Boundaries77 Introduction 77 Narration of Petra’s Authentically Multilingual/ Multidialectal Self  78 Self-protection in Situations of Linguistic Discomfort 85 Language as a Vehicle for Interpersonal Communication 89 Hair as a Site of Resistance in (White) European-dominated Societies  92 Implications for EX-LL/LSP Pedagogy and Internship Design 99 Takeaways and Points for Continued Reflection  101 Reference List  102 4 Penelope or Penélope?: Penélope’s Journey of (Re)Claiming Her Identity as a Legitimate Speaker and Mexican-American Woman Across Transnational Social Fields

104

Contents  ix

Introduction 104 Narration of Penélope’s Language Acquisition Background 105 Journalism as a Bridge to Family and Community  108 Development of (Linguistic) Empathy for Generational Journeys 116 (Re)Claiming a Mexican-American Identity  123 Implications for EX-LL/LSP Pedagogy and Internship Design 128 Takeaways and Points for Continued Reflection  131 Reference List  132 5 Strategic Knowledge in Professional Discourse: Innovative Communicative Strategies and Their Social Functions134 Introduction 134 Strategic Knowledge: A Brief Review  135 Communicative Strategies During in situ Encounters 135 Communicative Strategies During Premeditative Conversations 165 Implications for EX-LL/LSP Pedagogy and Internship Design: Expanding and Providing Instruction on Communicative Strategies and Communicative Competence  176 Takeaways and Points for Continued Reflection  185 Reference List  187 6 Raising Our Thinking About Critical Engagement With the Community

189

Introduction 189 Frameworks for Collaborating Critically With (Minoritized) Communities  190 Frameworks for Engaging in Critical EX-LL Research and Evaluation in the Community  198 Takeaways and Points for Continued Reflection  203 Reference List  204 Index

206

FOREWORD

The field of languages for specific purposes (LSP) has been a staple of the language-teaching profession for decades. In the past two decades, however, we have witnessed a renewal of the LSP approach as colleges and universities have done away with universal language requirements and as language educators have sought new ways to engage increasingly pragmatic generations of college students and their parents. The renewal of LSP has converged with increasing interest in community-based language learning and the recognition of the value and role of local language communities in the “foreign language” teaching and learning enterprise. Together, these three strands – languages for specific purposes, community-based language learning, and heritage language teaching – have delivered a reinvigorated purpose and strength to language learning and teaching in the 21st century. Research and development in the field, however, has typically treated each of the three strands in isolation and has been focused primarily on studies of specific programs and their educational outcomes. A new wave of research, however, is beginning to emerge that focuses on the integration of the different strands and that strives to describe the newness that emerges from its intersections and within its interstices. Diana Ruggiero’s recent book, Teaching World Languages for Specific Purposes (2022), achieves this goal from a more global and summative perspective. On the ground, ethnographically “thick,” and theoretically informed approaches, however, have been lacking. Dr. Alexis A. Vollmer Rivera addresses this current gap in a way that is both enlightening and refreshing. This work is the first, book-length treatment of experiential Spanish for specific purposes (SSP) learning, focusing on three, diverse language learners meaningfully engaging with minoritized communities. The book breaks new ground in that it provides an in-depth look at the lived educational

Foreword  xi

experiences of language learners, in that it recognizes the shaping positionality of the researcher, and in that it incorporates community voices as an essential part of the learning experience. It is a major accomplishment because it gives due attention to both the student and the community in the description. Vollmer Rivera adeptly contextualizes the community context in which experiential learning takes place and shows the nuanced experience of SSP students as they are entangled in real world issues. The three focal participants in the study – Petra, Penélope, and María – reflect the intersectional identities of today’s students along racial, ethnic, and sociolinguistic lines. At the same time, each participant engages different aspects of lived experiences in the Hispanic/Latinx community, touching on issues such as health and well-being, migration status and immigrant rights, and media representation. Community voices – from community leaders to service providers to everyday users of services – enrich the description of the learning processes that each of these three participants experience as they engage and become a part of the Spanish-speaking community. The work shows the multiple ways in which students grow within and through the experiential learning process. These include identifying and unsettling language ideologies, engaging in profound identity work, and developing metalinguistic awareness. In addition to all that we learn from the journeys of Petra, Penélope, and María, Vollmer Rivera also teases out major principles and takeaways that can be applied to LSP experiential learning initiatives moving forward. The concepts of “coalitionality” and “allyship” are central to her thinking. She demonstrates the ways in which language teachers and learners can engage communities in ways that directly respond to challenges and that always yield a result that is greater than the sum of its parts. She also emphasizes the need to develop critical awareness in the face of the unique social and political circumstances that prevail in the communities we work with and serve. Finally, she lays out a strategy for developing powerful internships for LSP students that includes a focus on preparation, placement, and partner collaboration. Alexis A. Vollmer Rivera’s book is sure to advance the field of SSP and will long be recognized as one of those rare transformational leaps that invites new understandings and that ushers in new practices. Her attention to detail and her ability to convey the real heart work that happens in students and communities through experiential language learning will be a north star as the field continues to develop and mature. Glenn A. Martínez, Ph.D. MPH

PREFACE

In 2015, I moved to Tempe, Arizona, to pursue my doctoral degree in S­ panish (linguistics). Like many graduate students, when I began my program, one thought was always at the back of my mind: What will I  do for my dissertation research? As I  will share more in Chapter  1 when discussing my positionality, graduate school was crucial in my formation as a critical ally, linguist, and community-based researcher. Sharing my journey and acknowledging my weaknesses, privilege, and ignorance makes me feel vulnerable. However, to honestly and critically present my research, I think it is important and necessary. When I entered my program, I knew I wanted to work with the community in some way, but I was not thinking about what it meant to engage and collaborate with these individuals respectfully. I was focusing on my passion for working with community members. Not about the needs of community members or the history behind why these needs existed in the first place. I was not thinking about what it meant to ensure that participants were actual beneficiaries of the research. Instead, I was very egocentric. I was focusing on what I needed to learn to be successful and what I needed to do to finish my degree. While this perspective may help hit deadlines or churn out publications, it damages those participating in research and their communities. I feel so fortunate that I met amazing mentors during my coursework who prevented me from being an egocentric researcher and helped me become a researcher who always strives to be a respectful and critical ally (shoutout to Dr. Brendan O’Connor and his amazing course on ethnography). By the time I was ready to write and defend my prospectus, I had solidified the foundation of my philosophy of being a community-based researcher. I  also formulated the motivation for my dissertation research: How can

Preface  xiii

members and allies of Hispanic/Latinx communities in academia support the mission of organizations dedicated to narrowing the gap in access to resources among Hispanic/Latinx communities in the U.S.? How can we do our part to reduce the disparities that these communities face? The findings from an extensive literature review I conducted (the results of which are shared in Chapter  1) indicated that Spanish for specific purposes (SSP) programs with professional domestic internships could be one answer. It just so happened that “Southwestern University”1 had an SSP program with professional internships in the Metro Phoenix community. The wonderful coordinator of this program put me in touch with SSP students who would be completing domestic internships. Before I  was ready to engage respectfully with these SSP students and the community, I needed to reflect on my own pre-existing biases informed by my environment and experiences. A Snapshot of My Journey

Tempe looked and sounded very different from my hometown of Fargo, North Dakota, where there is a visibly homogenous population (White). U.S. Census data indicates that 86.9% of the state identifies as “White alone” (U.S. Census Bureau, 2021), followed by those who identify as American Indian and Alaska Native (5.6%), Hispanic or Latinx (4.1%), Black or African American (3.4%), Two or More Races (2.3%), Asian (1.7%), and Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander (0.1%). Unlike Arizona, where the linguistic landscape changes as one navigates through sectors of the same city, I have never seen or heard advertisements in any language other than English in my home state. Because the dominant racial and ethnic group is so prominent in North Dakota, it is easy for this group (of which I am a member) to overlook the needs of individuals considered outsiders. This is part of privilege: “people from privileged groups tend to have little awareness of their own dominant identity, of the privileges it affords them, of the oppression suffered by the corresponding disadvantaged group, and of how they perpetuate it” (Goodman, 2011, p. 22). As a middle-class family, sure, we had some tough times. There were periods when we struggled financially. But we never had to worry about accessing services or goods because of our race, ethnicity, language, or documentation status. Where many immigrants have no choice but to learn a particular language to survive, I had the privilege of studying another language to learn from and share with those from different backgrounds. This is where my passion for linguistics was born – using language to learn from and share with others. During the 2000s, 619 refugees were resettled in North Dakota, with the majority (72%) coming from Bosnia and Herzegovina (see Hansen, 2004 for a discussion on the adjustment challenges of

xiv  Preface

Bosnians who resettled in North Dakota). In second grade, I shared a classroom with two girls that came to Fargo as refugees from Bosnia. I was asked to be a “cultural ambassador” of sorts to these two classmates to help them navigate and assimilate into this new environment. As a seven-year-old, I was unaware of the debate between refugee integration2 and assimilation3. I was unaware of the dominant discourse of a “refugee crisis” (see Nawyn, 2019). My goal was simply to make two new friends, which is exactly what happened. The three of us were inseparable in that class; we laughed together and taught each other games in our languages. As an adult with the privilege of learning about critical theories and collaborating with different cultures, I now reflect on this situation and realize the intentions the school adults had for this role were likely not acculturation but assimilation. The intention of my role was not to have a tandem relationship where we shared our languages and cultures. It was intended to facilitate the assimilation process. To be frank, I did not understand how dominating discourses around refugee resettlement, immigration, and language ideologies, among other important topics, reinforced negative stereotypes and prejudices until I moved to Arizona. Growing up in Fargo, immigration was not part of my daily lived experiences, or at least I did not recognize it as such. As I described, my home state has a visibly homogenous population. I use the word visibly intentionally, as those who do not belong to this dominant group are often made invisible. One of the reasons I am passionate about striving to be a critical ally is that I came to it all too late in life. Purpose and Audience of the Book

My goal is for this book to help graduate students, practitioners, researchers, and program developers reimagine how language learning and research look in community-based settings. In doing so, I foreground the participants as the protagonists of their own stories, making space in the text for their experiences to guide readers. I also recognize and reflect on my own biases and positionality (as a researcher and practitioner; observer and social actor; and language learner) while representing the participants’ words and actions as carefully as possible. Participants and Guiding Questions

I had the privilege of accompanying three journalism students (Petra, Penélope, and María) at “Southwestern University” and the community members with whom they engaged during their SSP internships in the fields of journalism and medicine within the local Metro Phoenix community. Utilizing a linguistic ethnographic approach, I  sought to learn from both the

Preface  xv

interns and community members with which they interacted. The following questions guided my research. 1) What types of experiences were the interns afforded through their Spanish for specific purposes domestic community internships? How did the interns take advantage of these experiences to do different kinds of identity work that transcended the goals of the program? 2) How did the interns implement their strategic knowledge during breakdowns in communication with community members related to their Spanish for specific purposes domestic community internships? What were the social functions of the strategies that they chose to utilize? 3) What were community members’ perceptions regarding Hispanics’/ Latinxs’ access to high-quality care and services in the U.S.? Brief Description of Methods

Choosing a specific framework can help us researchers to shape our scholarship more coherently while building the study design, collecting data, and undertaking data analysis. One specific framework that lends itself well to the critical type of research through community engagement in which I have sought to engage is Critical Applied Linguistics (CALx). This framework critically explores the relationship between language use and power structures within society and calls for social reformation (Pennycook, 2001). Additionally, the “strong” definition implemented by Pennycook (2001) not only encourages analysis and associations to be drawn within the field of linguistics but rather in an interdisciplinary manner. Throughout the data collection process, I audio recorded (n = 18 hours, 12 minutes) the interactions I had with the interns and community members, where allowed. Although video recording would have provided for a more detailed analysis (e.g., body language, facial expressions), this information was not the focus of the current study and was, in fact, prohibited in certain research sites (i.e., Phoenix Community Clinic) due to policies to maintain the privacy and anonymity of their patrons (the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA). In addition, asking to video record members of minoritized communities with whom I have not yet built trusting relationships may have been seen as an act of surveillance (O’Connor, 2017) and/or may have discouraged their participation. Description of Indexing Bilingualism and Multilingualism

One of the major components of my framework was deciding how I  was going to assign speaker/learner classifications to participants. Assigning speaker/learner classifications has been an inherent part of second language

xvi  Preface

acquisition (SLA)/applied linguistics (AL) and heritage language (HL) research and is incredibly nuanced and does enforce hierarchies among students and language users. It is important to discuss the position of power that we, educators, program developers, and researchers, hold when we assign speakers/learners classifications. Languages are taught as “linguistically delineated objects to speakers whom we classify according to constructed identities around ‘native,’ ‘non-native,’ ‘first,’ ‘second,’ ‘bilingual,’ ‘foreign,’ ‘heritage,’ ‘English-language learner’ and so forth” (Martínez  & Train, 2020, p.  41, emphasis maintained). However, these labels do not embody their complex experiences with language and culture and instead impose on their process of negotiating their identity(ies). Settle in with me for just a minute as we dig a bit deeper into these labels and the power that accompanies them. Second Language Learners

Initially, “native speakership was viewed as an uncontroversial privilege of birth. Those who were born into a language were considered its native speakers with grammatical intuitions that nonnative speakers did not have” (Kramsch, 1997, p.  254). Until recently, this “uncontroversial privilege of birth” was an unchallenged, dominant ideology within SLA/AL that has been/is reinforced through research and pedagogy that centralize the powerladen dichotomy between native speakers (NS) and second language (L2) learners. Most recently, there has been a shift toward disrupting this power dynamic. As part of this shift, scholars are recognizing and celebrating that the idealized monolingual NSs whose repertories are utilized to determine “standard” and “correct” language are not the norm around the globe. Rather, multilingualism is the norm, and “monolingual speech communities are rare and monolingual countries are even rarer” (Spolsky, 1998, p. 51). In the same vein, Ushioda (2017) argues that instead of pushing learners toward (most often) unattainable and outdated goals, pedagogy should instead be shaped around “the development of students’ whole linguistic and cultural repertoire within an intercultural orientation” (p. 474). Power dynamics related to speaker classifications are not only an issue within SLA/AL, but also an important argument within HL pedagogy. Heritage Language Learners

Although HL learner is the dominant term utilized in the U.S., the categorization of HL learners has been proven problematic within HL pedagogy. This is attributed to the fact that HL practitioners have not come to a general agreement as to who, exactly, HL learners are, “which in turn has hindered the field from advancing pedagogically or theoretically” (Hornberger & Wang, 2017).

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Furthermore, although HL learners constitute a heterogeneous group, many scholars and educators in the U.S. employ this label as an “umbrella term,” not taking into account the varying historical, linguistic, educational, affective, and cultural dimensions that make these individuals so diverse (Beaudrie et al., 2014). Nevertheless, three descriptions are most often cited in the existing HL literature. These definitions are classified as “broad” and “narrow,” depending upon the attributes of focus: familial and/or cultural connections, motivation, and linguistic abilities. Broad definition: Individuals who have grown up with a familial and/or cultural connection to the HL but may not speak nor understand it. (Fishman, 2001) Heritage motivation: Individuals who do not have proficiency in the HL but “have been raised with a strong cultural connection to a particular language through family interactions.” (Van Deusen-Scholl, 2003, p. 222) Narrow definition: Individual “who is raised in a home where a non-­ English language is spoken, who speaks or merely understands the heritage language, and who is to some degree bilingual in English and the heritage language.” (Valdés, 2000, p. 1) Attempting to define HL learners becomes even murkier when considering these bilingual individuals’ linguistic trajectory and acquisitional order. Historically, it has been accepted that “the first language a human being learns to speak his native language; he is a native” (Bloomfield, 1933, p. 43). If true, what differentiates an HL language learner first exposed to the HL from an NS? Whereas Rothman and Treffers-Daller (2014) approached this debate from a linguistic standpoint, arguing that HL learners are indeed NS, Beaudrie et  al. (2014) offered an alternative perspective in which they differentiated the two learners based on the social statuses of the languages in question: What distinguishes heritage language learners from native speakers are their experiences within an environment in which the HL is not the dominant language of the country, including their lack of schooling in the HL and a wide range of contexts of language input in the HL. Despite this difference, it is important for educators to highlight HLLs’ bilingual repertories as a strong asset rather than falling short of some speaker norm. (p. 43)

xviii  Preface

Grappling with Speaker/Learner Classifications in This Book

When deciding how to classify and present the interns as language learners and speakers, I utilized the work of scholars Kramsch and Whiteside (2007) as a guide. Specifically, these two researchers explored the validity of classification terms, such as NS versus non-native speakers, by juxtaposing contexts based on symbolic power. These terms were shaped by a deficit and socially disconnected view of non-native speakers and varieties that are “institutionally constructed” (e.g., classrooms) versus those that house “the discourse of shifting opportunities, fluid subject positions, and tactical contingencies typical of our global times” (e.g., community sites) (Kramsch & Whiteside, 2007, p. 918). Considering that the research straddled both institutional and community spaces, the interns experienced an intersection of the aforementioned power dynamics. Within Southwestern University, the interns were tagged with speaker classifications based on the way(s) they had acquired the target language of Spanish. There were two separate tracks for lower-division courses in the Spanish language program at Southwestern University: L2 courses and HL courses. Through this design, these speakers “ideally” only shared a classroom when they had reached higher-division courses, such as advanced conversation courses, literature or linguistic courses, and SSP courses. However, when interacting in community spaces, these individuals may not have been perceived as “L2 learners” or “NS” by community members. Instead, their statuses changed in relation to their positionality to the social actors present in these spaces. For example, when reporting on a community event, an intern may have been viewed as a journalist, advocate, or generational immigrant instead of an HL learner. In an attempt to capture the interplay of the power dynamics at Southwestern University within the community and how SLA/AL and HL pedagogy and research are currently framed, traditional speaker categories must be defined. Specifically, the institutional terms based upon the mode of acquisition will be used to index the speaker classification of each intern as an L2 learner, HL learner, or NS to draw parallels and relate findings to relevant research. There are also instances where the interns or community members utilize such classifications. In these instances, such classifications will not imply a static positionality; rather, drawing from poststructuralist and ecological perspectives on language learning, further analysis will explore “how the cognitive, the emotional, to social, and the cultural are produced and reproduced in the discourse of everyday life” (Kramsch & Whiteside, 2007, p.  913). Therefore, when traditional speaker categories are utilized, they will be accompanied by thoughtful discussions on the participants’ changing positionalities within the spaces in which they engage. More generally, given

Preface  xix

that the interns were bilingual individuals actively learning professionally, they will all be acknowledged as bilingual learners/speakers. Emphasis will be placed on descriptions of their linguistic, cultural, and social experiences and positionalities. With this point in mind, it is imperative to point out that bilinguals are not seen, and should not be seen, as two monolinguals containing “separate and isolable language competencies” housed within the same brain (Grosjean, 1989, p. 4). For this reason, Valdés (2005) coined the term bilingual range, which refers to “the continuum of linguistic abilities and communicative strategies that an individual may access in one or the other of his or her two languages at a specific moment, for a particular purpose, in a particular setting, with particular interlocutors” (p. 316). The following definitions are unique to this specific sample of interns, representing unique characteristics of language exposure and acquisition, geographical distance and connection to the local community, and affective and educational needs, among others. Each of the three participants could be assigned to one of the three aforementioned speaker/learner categories. Specifically, the “L2 learner” (Petra) represents an individual who has not acquired the language through familial/community-based exposure. Instead, she has primarily learned the target language through exposure in a formal classroom setting supported by a study abroad experience in a country with (one of) its official languages as Spanish. Utilizing Valdés’ (2000) narrow definition, the “HL learner” (Penélope) represents an individual “who is raised in a home where a non-English language is spoken, who speaks or merely understands the heritage language, and who is to some degree bilingual in English and the heritage language” (p.  1). Finally, utilizing the distinction made by Beaudrie et al. (2014) as a jumping point, the “NS” (María) represents an individual who has acquired the dominant language of their physical homeland through family-based, community-based, and classroom-setting (where applicable) exposure. Having said this, “the notion of the native speaker – especially as applied to bilingual individuals – is neither simple, obvious, nor straightforward” (Valdés, 2005, p. 415). The case of the current study is no different, specifically as the “NS” participant identifies as an outsider to the local speech community, both linguistically and culturally. As will be seen in the data analyses, this positionality affected how she grappled with the experiences presented in her internship and the development of her strategic competence. Therefore, in an attempt to further unpack this complex construct for this research, it is necessary to add an additional facet to the NS classification: nonlocal native speaker (nonlocal NS). A nonlocal NS will refer to an NS who has acquired a variety different from that of the majority speech community where they currently find themselves (Gumperz, 2009).

xx  Preface

Organization of the Book

The experiences, scholarships, and frameworks I have shared throughout this Preface are some of the major elements that shaped my approach to engaging in this research and sharing it with you, readers, through this book. So, what is actually in the book? Shortly, I provide a brief look into what the reader can expect from each chapter. Chapter 1 Spanish for Specific Purposes as an Opportunity for Advocacy: Introducing the Cases of María, Petra, and Penélope

In Chapter  1, I  introduce the (i) why, (ii) purpose, (iii) pedagogical background, (iv) pertinent theories and frameworks, and (v) research contexts, participants, and sites of the book. Throughout the chapter, I  utilize data from observations of and interviews with interns and community members to further contextualize the research and illustrate the disparities that Hispanic/ Latinx community members face in the U.S. and Phoenix Metro area. Chapters 2, 3, and 4

Penélope, Petra, and María each engaged in experiential language learning (EX-LL) during their participation in a Spanish for specific purposes internship at Southwestern University. Despite having acquired the language in distinct ways and having unique relationships with the community, each intern engaged in linguistic-, ethnic-, and racial-related identity work that transcended the program’s goals. In Chapters 2, 3, and 4, I employ in-depth ethnographic portraits of each intern founded on data from field notes and intern interviews, observations, and video diaries to analyze how their journeys illuminate different aspects of identity construction and language learning. I  utilize pertinent theories, frameworks, pedagogies, and concepts to contextualize and analyze the enacted identity work. Chapter 2 Soy Puertorriqueña, Punto: María’s Journey of Constructing Her Identity as a Female Puerto Rican Producer and Journalist in the Southwestern United States

In Chapter 2, I present an ethnographic portrait of María’s journey. I harness language ideologies to study three important themes that represent this type of identity work she did across discursive events: (i) claiming her puertorriqueñidad in broadcast, (ii) linguistic proficiency and commitment to an

Preface  xxi

academic standard variety, and (iii) maintaining her authentic self within a gender-biased professional environment. Chapter 3 Don’t Worry, Be Nappy: Petra’s Journey of Positioning Her Identity as a Legitimate and Authentically Multilingual/Multidialectal Speaker Across Racial Boundaries

In Chapter 3, I present an ethnographic portrait of Petra’s journey. Building on language ideologies, I utilize positioning theory to study three important themes that represent this type of identity work she did across discursive events: (i) self-protection in situations of linguistic discomfort, (ii) language as a vehicle for interpersonal connection, and (iii) corporeal resistance in (White) European dominated societies. Chapter 4 Penelope Or Penélope?: Penélope’s Journey of (Re)Claiming Her Identity as a Legitimate Speaker and Mexican-American Woman Across Transnational Social Fields

In Chapter 4, I present an ethnographic portrait of Penélope’s journey. Building on language ideologies and positioning theory, I implement HL pedagogy to study three important themes that represent this type of identity work she did across discursive events: (i) journalism as a bridge to family and community, (ii) development of (linguistic) empathy for generational journeys, and (iii) (re)claiming a Mexican-American identity. Chapter 5 Strategic Knowledge in Professional Discourse: Innovative Communicative Strategies and Their Social Functions

In Chapter  5, I  explore a specific aspect of communicative competence in SSP internships: strategic knowledge. I present data from the interns’ in situ (real-time) and premeditative (opportunities to plan before engaging in realtime communication) experiences with community members and other social actors related to their internships. Using a categorization of communicative strategies and the sociocultural theory of language learning framework, I  analyze their strategic knowledge (i.e., communicative strategies) during breakdowns in communication and the social function of such strategies. As a close to the chapter, I outline the proposal of new communicative strategies and discuss the roles and actions of others as serving as mediation “artifacts” during discursive events in EX-LL experiences.

xxii  Preface

Chapter 6 Raising Our Thinking About Critical Engagement With the Community

Moving from theory to practice, in Chapter 6, I introduce a practical map that languages for specific purposes (LSP) and EX-LL researchers, program developers, and students can utilize to continue raising their thinking about critically engaging in the community. This map focuses on (i) frameworks for collaborating critically with (minoritized) communities and (ii) frameworks for engaging in critical EX-LL research and evaluation in the community. The proposed practices are rooted in mutual collaboration with the community, with specific considerations for collaborating with members from minoritized communities. ¡Feliz viaje!

I hope this book will be a journey where you, as a reader, are not only inspired to find ways to implement LSP as an opportunity for advocacy to reduce disparities that our Hispanic/Latinx communities face in the U.S., but also take action to enact your solutions. Notes 1 All university sites, community sites, and individuals mentioned in this dissertation have been given a pseudonym so as to protect their anonymity. 2 From integrationist policies that “promote multiculturalism and encourage exchange of cultural values between the two societies” (Creatura, 2017, para. 2). 3 From assimilationist policies that “imply the loss of one’s distinct cultural identity” (Creatura, 2017, para. 2).

Reference List Beaudrie, S., Ducar, C., & Potowski, K. (2014). Heritage language teaching: Research and practice. McGraw Hill. Bloomfield, L. (1933). Language. Holt, Rinehart and Winston. Creatura, I. (2017, March 13). Rethinking “integration” and “assimilation” of refugees. Brown Political Review. https://brownpoliticalreview.org/2017/03/rethink ing-integration-assimilation-refugees/#:~:text=Countries%20with%20far% 2Dreaching%20integration,xenophobic%20attitudes%20and%20general%20 division Fishman, J. A. (2001). 300-plus years of heritage language education in the United States. In J. Kreeft Peyton, D. A. Ranard,  & S. McGinnis (Eds.), Heritage languages in America: Preserving a national resource (pp. 81–97). Center for Applied Linguistics and Delta Systems. Goodman, D. (2011). Promoting diversity and social justice: Educating people from privileged groups (2nd ed.). SAGE Publishing.

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Grosjean, F. (1989). Neurolinguists, beware! The bilingual is not two monolinguals in one person. Brain and Language, 36(1), 3–15. Gumperz, J. (2009). The speech community. In A. Duranti (Ed.), Linguistic anthropology: A reader (pp. 66–73). Blackwell Publishing. Hansen, D. A. (2004). The socioeconomic adjustments and challenges of Bosnian refugee resettlement in North Dakota. Prairie Perspectives: Geographical Essays, 7, 129–140. Hornberger, N. H., & Wang, S. C. (2017). Who are our heritage language learners? Identity and biliteracy in heritage language education in the United States. In D. M. Brinton, O. Kagan, & S. Bauckus (Eds.), Heritage language education: A new field emerging (pp. 3–35). Routledge. Kramsch, C. (1997). Guest column: The privilege of the nonnative speaker. Publications of the Modern Language Association of America, 359–369. Kramsch, C.,  & Whiteside, A. (2007). Three fundamental concepts in second language acquisition and their relevance in multilingual contexts. The Modern Language Journal, 91(s1), 907–922. Martínez, G. A., & Train, R. W. (Eds.). (2020). Tension and contention in language education for Latinxs in the United States: Experience and ethics in teaching and learning. Routledge. Nawyn, S. J. (2019). Refugees in the United States and the politics of crisis. In C. Menjívar, M. Ruiz, & I. Ness (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Migration Crises (pp. 163–179). Oxford University Press. O’Connor, B. H. (2017). Language out of place: Transgressive semiotics and the lived experience of race in borderlands education. Journal of Language, Identity  & Education, 16(3), 127–141. Pennycook, A. (2001). Critical applied linguistics: A critical introduction. Routledge. Rothman, J.,  & Treffers-Daller, J. (2014). A  prolegomenon to the construct of the native speaker: Heritage speaker bilinguals are natives too! Applied Linguistics, 35(1), 93–98. Spolsky, B. (1998). Sociolinguistics. Oxford University Press. U.S. Census Bureau. (2021). QuickFacts: North Dakota. www.census.gov/quickfacts/ ND Ushioda, E. (2017). The impact of global English on motivation to learn other languages: Toward an ideal multilingual self. The Modern Language Journal, 101(3), 469–482. Valdés, G. (2000). Introduction. In AATSP professional development series handbook for teachers K-16. Vol. 1: Spanish for native speakers (pp. 1–20). American Association for Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese. Valdés, G. (2005). Bilingualism, heritage language learners, and SLA research: Opportunities lost or seized? The Modern Language Journal, 89(3), 410–426. Van Deusen-Scholl, N. (2003). Toward a definition of heritage language: Sociopolitical and pedagogical considerations. Journal of Language, Identity, and Education, 2(3), 211–230.

1 SPANISH FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES AS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR ADVOCACY Introducing the Cases of María, Petra, and Penélope

Introduction

As you may have gathered from the book blurb, the preface, or the chapter abstracts, the purpose of this monograph is two-fold. One of my primary objectives in writing this book is to advocate for Spanish for specific purposes (SSP) to narrow the gaps in Hispanic/Latinx1 communities’ access to high-quality services in the United States (U.S.). For SSP to serve this purpose, language users must have meaningful direct contact with the community. Therefore, my secondary objective of the book is to explore the experiences of SSP students as they engage with community members. As a basis for this work, I had the privilege of accompanying three journalism students (Petra, Penélope, and María) and the community members with whom they engaged during their SSP internships in the fields of journalism and medicine within the local Metro Phoenix (Arizona) community. I will provide in-depth information about Petra, Penélope, María, and the community members later in this chapter. Given that I nod to them before those sections, I briefly introduce the interns in Table 1.1 and the community members in Table 1.2 to help readers learn a bit about them. Throughout this chapter, I use data from observations of and interviews with Petra, Penélope, María, and community members to contextualize the study and illustrate the disparities Hispanic/Latinx community members face in the U.S. and Phoenix Metro area. Throughout the book, I  analyze the linguistic, social, and political experiences of Petra, Penélope, and María as they grapple with their identities and leverage strategic knowledge during professional internships. I use ethnographic portraits and discourse analysis to illustrate how direct engagement with the community provides students DOI: 10.4324/9781003257141-1

2  Spanish for Specific Purposes as an Opportunity for Advocacy TABLE 1.1  Intern Characteristics

Name

Place of Birth Self-identified Age Major Race/ Ethnicity

Petra

Arizona

Black and White

24

Penélope Colorado

Mexican/ American

20

María

Puerto Rican 22

Puerto Rico

Community Internship Role/Site

Journalism and Medical Interpreter/ Mass Comm/ Phoenix CommuBroadcast nity Clinic Journalism and Multimedia Mass Comm/ ­Journalist/Phoenix Broadcast Reportaje Journalism and Producer/ Mass Comm/ Phoenix Production Reportaje

TABLE 1.2  Community Member Characteristics

Community Seeking/ Member Facilitating Service

Primary Place of Gender Intern Language Birth/ Race/ Ethnicity

Alma

Seeking Medical

Spanish

Mexico/ F Mexican

Valentina

Seeking Medical

Spanish

Mexico/ F Mexican

Josefina

Seeking Medical

Spanish

Mexico/ F Hispanic

Lucía

Seeking Medical

Spanish

Mexico/ F Hispanic

Violeta

Seeking Medical

Spanish

Mexico/ F Mexican

Miguel

Facilitating - English Immigration Facilitating – Spanish Immigration, Citizenship, and English Classes Facilitating – English Immigration

Rafael

Juan

Mexico/ M Mexican Mexico/ M Hispanic

Mexico/ M Mexican

Community Site

Petra

Phoenix Community Clinic Petra Phoenix Community Clinic Petra Phoenix Community Clinic Petra Phoenix Community Clinic Petra Phoenix Community Clinic Penélope Law Firm Penélope Phoenix and Reportaje María Penélope Nonprofit

Spanish for Specific Purposes as an Opportunity for Advocacy  3

with opportunities to position and protect their identities utilizing linguistic and extralinguistic resources. The Why of the Book

Before we dig into the interns’ experiences, let us start with the first objective of this book and explore why Hispanic/Latinx community members face barriers to high-quality services and the effect that it has on them. To do so, I will highlight the community members’ experiences they shared with me, along with pertinent secondary data. Low Access and Barriers to Resources

Hispanic/Latinx community members constitute the largest ethnic or racial minorities in the country, accounting for 18.5% of the nation’s population (U.S. Census Bureau, 2021a). Despite their large presence within the U.S., institutional practices and language discrimination lead to a discrepancy in their access to a variety of services compared with access to those services by English-speaking members of the dominant culture (Martínez, 2010). In addition to issues of access, Hispanic/Latinx community members experience other barriers to receiving high-quality care. In some cases, “these barriers result from their low socioeconomic status; others are due to several specific features of the Hispanic population . . . degree of acculturation, language, and immigration status” (Escarce & Kapur, 2006, pp. 410–411). Hispanic/Latinx community members’ low access and barriers to high-quality services have also been cited in research (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2004; Martínez, 2010), especially among those who are undocumented (Cabral  & Cuevas, 2020). In fact, the lack of documentation and how it affected community members’ lives was a major topic that arose during my interviews with community members. For example, Lucía2 and her daughter visited the Phoenix Community Clinic, where one of the SSP students, Petra, carried out her internship as a medical interpreter and scribe. Originally from Mexico, Lucía came to the U.S. to seek better health care for her daughter, who suffered from auditory issues. Interview, 04–10–18 Lucía:

Tenía la esperanza de que pudiera rescatarle algo de su audición. Y parece ser que al parecer sí, y esa es mi función o mi objetivo, mi meta de estar aquí en los Estados Unidos. Una mejoría y una calidad de vida más, ah, aceptable para mi hija.

I was hoping that I could save some of my daughter’s hearing. And it seems that apparently, yes, that is my function or my objective, my goal of being here in the United States. An improvement and a better ­quality of life, ah, more ­acceptable for my daughter.

4  Spanish for Specific Purposes as an Opportunity for Advocacy

After Lucía and her daughter had their appointment with an ear, nose, and throat (ENT) specialist, she agreed to an interview where we explored various topics, including her background, daily language use, perceptions of the access to services in the community, and her impressions of her experiences with Petra. In our conversation, I asked her a few hypothetical questions to understand more about the services offered or lacking in the Phoenix Metro area. Specifically, I asked her what she would do to try and find help if someone in her family needed legal assistance. Interview, 04–10–18 Lexi (Researcher):

Si usted o alguien en su familia, por ejemplo, necesitara ayuda legal, ¿qué haría usted para encontrar esa ayuda?

If you or someone in your family, for example, needed legal assistance, what would you do to try and find that help?

Lucía:

Por ejemplo, ¿qué?

Like what, for example?

Lexi:

Puede ser cualquier cosa. Por ejemplo . . . si hubiera una cuestión ahí . . . como recibió una multa, o algo de manejar, si necesitara encontrar a un abogado o lo que sea . . .

It could be anything. For example . . . if there was an issue . . . like you got a ticket, or something with driving, if you needed to find a lawyer or whatever . . .

Lucía:

Vamos y buscamos ayudas así igual, un abogado. O, ¿para manejar dice? Ahí andamos manejando con cuidado, porque no tenemos licencia. No tenemos nada.

We go and look for those types of assistance, a lawyer. Or for driving, you say? We drive carefully because we don’t have a license. We don’t have anything.

In her response, Lucía provided a real-world example of how documentation status can play a prominent role in an individual’s daily life and decisions. When I gave her the example of getting an automobile-related ticket, Lucía immediately voiced the strategies she and her family were already implementing to avoid legal trouble. Because they did not have documentation, they could not obtain driving licenses. Hispanic/Latinx community members in the U.S. also have challenges accessing high-quality services in areas such as seeking counsel for social welfare (Acevedo, 2005) and legal services. (Urbina, 2004). Regarding the former, it has been shown that non-English-speaking Hispanics/Latinxs

Spanish for Specific Purposes as an Opportunity for Advocacy  5

are often placed at a disadvantage when interpreters are not available. In one such case, due to “the low number of Spanish-speaking caseworkers, Latino community members who did not bring an interpreter with them were either sent away without receiving services or ended up waiting up to four times longer for assistance than English-speaking applicants” (Furman et al., 2009, p. 5). Concerning legal services, there are laws preventing certain groups of individuals, such as low-income individuals, racial minorities, and immigrants, from receiving legal counsel (Columbia Law School Human Rights Institute & Northeastern University School of Law Program on Human Rights and the Global Economy, 2014). Urbina (2004) specifically examined this problem through a linguistic lens, explaining that “equal access to the law is being denied to non-English speaking Latinos/as in our nation’s courts due to poor (or lack of) interpretation” (p. 91). Many clients who came to the Phoenix Community Clinic expressed confusion and apprehension regarding seeking legal services. For example, Alma was the caretaker of her adolescent daughter, who had a mobility disability and hearing impairment. Originally from Mexico, she came to the U.S. hoping to provide her daughter with higher-quality medical care and find a school that accommodates her disabilities. When I asked her what she would do if she or someone in her family needed legal help, she explained how she did not have knowledge of the legal system here in the U.S., nor where to seek help if necessary. Interview, 03–23–18 Alma:

Pues aquí ya me enteré que hay asesorías legales y me interesa. Eso nada más. Pero yo no sé de qué manera o cómo podría yo legalizar mi estatus aquí. No sé. Yo en México soy enfermera, pero no sé. Necesito una orientación buena que me diga, “Puedes conseguir permiso de trabajo.” O no sé, una asesoría legal bien pues, para yo saber qué pasos dar.

Well, here I found out that there are legal advisors, and that interests me. Nothing else. But I don’t know in what way or how I could legalize my status here. I don’t know. In Mexico, I’m a nurse, but I don’t know. I need sound guidance that tells me, “You can get employment authorization.” Or, I don’t know, a good legal advisor to know what steps I need to take.

Alma’s response emphasizes that, despite the services various organizations offer to Spanish speakers in the Phoenix Metro area, many community members were not aware of them. In fact, most individuals with whom I spoke told me that they relied upon suggestions from acquaintances, with

6  Spanish for Specific Purposes as an Opportunity for Advocacy

some mentioning they acquired their information by watching Univision Arizona. Discrimination and Poor Health Outcomes

In addition to low access, deep-seated discrimination against Hispanics/Latinxs has been documented (Almeida et al., 2016; Flores et al., 2008). For example, a probability-based telephone survey was conducted with a nationally representative sample of Hispanic/Latinx (n = 803) and non-Hispanic/Latinx White U.S. adults (n = 902). The goal was to examine experiences of racial and ethnic discrimination among Hispanics/Latinxs across various domains, including healthcare, education, and employment (Findling et al., 2019). As illustrated in Figure 1.1, most Hispanic/Latinx participants reported the general belief that discrimination against their race/ethnicity existed in the U.S. Specifically, Hispanic/Latinx participants had higher rates of reporting discrimination than non-Hispanic/Latinx White participants across all domains. Interestingly, the individual’s education level was not found to be a protective factor against discrimination of Hispanics/Latinxs in any of the domains examined. Conversely, the higher the level of education, the more likely the individual was to report discrimination in their job, the health care system, college, and interactions with police. There were also few differences in experiences of discrimination found among Hispanics/Latinxs born in the U.S. compared with those born in other countries. Racial and ethnic discrimination, including microaggressions, have serious consequences, such as broadly contributing to negative physical health outcomes, like elevated blood pressure (Estrada, 2017) and Type 2 Diabetes (Gaston et al., 2021; Whitaker et al., 2017), and emotional health outcomes, such as depression (Cobb et  al., 2017; Torres  & Taknint, 2015)

FIGURE 1.1 Differences

Between Reports of Racial/Ethnic Discrimination Among Hispanics/Latinxs and White Adults (Findling et al., 2019)

Spanish for Specific Purposes as an Opportunity for Advocacy  7

and anxiety (Pérez  & Fortuna, 2005), especially among undocumented ­Hispanics/Latinxs. Furthermore, there is a “direct relationship between anti-­ immigration ­policies and their effects on access to health services . . . as a result of these ­policies, undocumented immigrants were impacted by mental health outcomes, including depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder” (Martinez et al., 2015, p. 947). While observing at the Phoenix Community Clinic, I also had the opportunity to speak with Josefina, a 52-year-old Hispanic woman seeking care for paralysis. Like many undocumented immigrants, she moved from Mexico to the U.S. to provide a better life for her daughter. She shared that she was currently in the process of trying to become a U.S. citizen. The stress of living undocumented and the inability to find a job without citizenship were impacting her mental and physical health. She had experienced paralysis when she was young, and it recently flared back up, leading to visual impairment and an inability to move and feel areas of her face. Interview, 04–06–18 Josefina:

Si tuviera unos papeles, estuviera trabajando. Yo creo no estuviera estresada, no me hubiera resultado otra vez la parálisis. Me dijeron que se me quedaron los nervios. Aparte de los nervios me quedó el vértigo, principios de vértigo, que me da todo miedo. Yo era todo miedo. Yo no le transmito a mis hijos el miedo porque si les digo que tengo miedo, ellos más tienen miedo. Más la niña, la de 18 años que va a tener.

If I had papers, if I were working, I don’t think I would be stressed. I wouldn’t have gotten paralysis again. They told me that I have anxiety and depression. Apart from anxiety and depression, I have vertigo, the onset of vertigo, which all scares me. I was so scared. I don’t express my fear to my children because if I tell them I’m scared, they get more scared. Especially the girl, the one that is going to be 18.

Josefina’s story exemplifies how undocumented status operates as a risk factor for poor mental and physical health outcomes (e.g., Hacker et  al., 2011). Specifically, the chronic stress that Josefina experienced from being undocumented led her to physical and mental conditions, including anxiety, depression, vertigo, and paralysis. Despite these health issues, she continued working hard to support her family living in the U.S. and Mexico. Anti-bilingual Ideologies and Political Tensions in Arizona

Reading the statistics presented alongside Lucía, Alma, and Josefina’s experiences may have triggered personal experiences of discrimination. The information in these pages may have also led you to ask yourself something like,

8  Spanish for Specific Purposes as an Opportunity for Advocacy

“How is it possible that a group with such a strong presence in the U.S. and Arizona can face such prominent discrimination and disparities in access to care?” Well, that is a complicated question. Let us attempt to unpack just a few aspects related to anti-bilingual ideologies and political tensions in the state of Arizona. Political Tensions in Arizona

In general, the U.S. is, unfortunately, an appropriate geographic location to study the many facets of discrimination that Hispanics/Latinxs face. Although these individuals experience discrimination due to various reasons in various contexts, the relationship between language and oppression is visible. Potowski (2015) explains that The connections between language and identity in the United States are rooted in the nation’s linguistic culture. Despite not having an official national language, the United States has displayed, since the 20th century, a markedly monolingual hegemony that seeks to assimilate immigrants and replace their languages with English. (p. 25) This ideology can be seen through specific legislation at the national level. For example, the national English Only Movement “has 1.8 million members and regularly supports legislation introduced to Congress declaring English the federal official language” (Potowski, 2015, p. 25). In addition, English Only laws that specifically target those who do not fit in with the majority culture and language are enforced in approximately 30 out of 50 states, with Arizona being one (Hanna, 2017). Zooming into Arizona, where I  conducted this research, the dominant ideology “despite the state’s multilingual and multicultural history, is overwhelmingly anti-immigrant and anti-bilingual” (Cashman, 2009, p. 45). This is a unique state in the sense that the linguistic oppression and the push for assimilation by members of the majority language (Skutnabb-Kangas & McCarty, 2008) is strong despite the immense population of Hispanics/ Latinxs, a group that makes up 31.7% of the state (U.S. Census Bureau, 2021b). Furthermore, 42.6% of the 1.6 million individuals living in Phoenix, Arizona, identify as Hispanic/Latinx (U.S. Census Bureau, 2020a), which is the second-largest ethnic group living in poverty (21.7%), preceded by those identifying as Black or African American (23.6%) (U.S. Census Bureau, 2020b). This state has been labeled as “anti-bilingual” even though “it has significant non-English-speaking groups, especially Spanish-speaking Mexicans/Mexican-Americans and indigenous groups such as the Navajo, Hopi, and Yaqui tribes, among many others” (Cashman, 2006, p. 42).

Spanish for Specific Purposes as an Opportunity for Advocacy  9

Within Arizona, the English Only Movement extends to other pieces of state legislation that suppress community members’ linguistic rights. For example, Proposition 106 established English as “the sole official language of all state business,” and Proposition 203 eliminated “bilingual education in state-funded schools” (Cashman, 2006, p. 42). Proposition 203, which requires all students to be taught in English until they have achieved proficiency, has been utilized as a method to try and remove dual-language immersion from Arizona schools. In June of 2023, Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Thorne disputed that the 50–50 Dual Language Immersion Model implemented across 26 districts in the state violates Proposition 203. Specifically, he threatened to withhold funding from schools utilizing this model. The 50–50 Dual Language Immersion Model is a teaching model authorized by the State Board of Education and is one of four methods utilized to instruct English-language learners (ELL) who are not yet proficient in English. Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs and Attorney General Kris Mayes have disagreed with Thorne’s interpretation and voiced strong support for dual-language models. In September of 2023, Horne filed a lawsuit in Maricopa County Superior Court, petitioning the judge to settle the dispute (Gomez, 2023). Another infamous case of institution-driven discrimination against Hispanics/Latinxs comes from Arizona’s 2010 State Bill 1070 (SB 1070), an anti-immigration policy. Although the bill underwent revision, “the portion allowing state police to investigate the immigration status of an individual stopped, detained, or arrested if there is a reasonable suspicion that the individual is in the country without proper documentation, was upheld” (Almeida et al., 2016, p. 898). SB 1070 was brought up during my conversation with Juan, a community member whom one of the SSP interns, Penélope, interviewed for a story. Originally from Hidalgo, Mexico, Juan came to the U.S. as a child and became a citizen as a teenager. Juan is a services coordinator for a grassroots organization dedicated to educating the community on immigration services through advocacy and civic engagement. When I asked Juan how he began his career in community advocacy, he cited SB 1070 as a catalyst. Interview, 03–29–18 Lexi:

How did you get into this type of work here that you’re doing?

Juan:

In 2010 when SB 1070 happened, that really impacted me because I have family members who aren’t documented, and so you know, I couldn’t drive my little nieces or nephews to school. I was like, “That’s my family, how can I not do that?” I didn’t know how to hold all this frustration, anger. . . . All these emotions that I didn’t know how to cope with. I had not lived for that, and so I just kind of ignored it until the following year, when a friend led me to come and volunteer.

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Juan’s experience shows a real-world example of how anti-immigration policies, such as SB 1070, can negatively impact individuals and foment racial profiling. Anti-immigration policies that foster racial profiling have heightened the racialization of anyone perceived to be an immigrant. . . . For instance, in the case of Latinos, race/ethnicity and immigrant status are often conflated, such that, in the popular imagination all Latinos are perceived to be Mexican, all Mexicans are seen as immigrants, and they, in turn, are all cast as undocumented. (Viruell-Fuentes et al., 2012, p. 2103) Immigration orders, anti-immigration discourse, and fear tactics implemented historically and more recently have directly affected the lives of community members that phenotypically mirror the dominating view of what an “illegal immigrant” looks like, both in Arizona and the larger country. The Purpose of the Book: SSP to Bridge the Gap

In the face of deep-seated discrimination, many individuals and organizations are dedicated to supporting the Hispanic/Latinx community. In addition to Juan, another example is Miguel. Born and raised in Jalisco, Mexico, until age five, Miguel is a lawyer who eventually settled in Arizona. He is a key member of an organization that promotes social justice in the state by working with local organizations to provide pro bono legal services to immigrants and their families. This organization also recognizes that the legal system is complex and that legal professionals are often the gatekeepers to legal knowledge. Therefore, Miguel and his colleagues also collaborate with organizations led by immigrants to disseminate legal information directly to the community. Penélope, one of the SSP interns, interviewed Miguel as part of a story she was developing. After their interview, I sat down with Miguel, where I  asked him about Hispanics’/Latinxs’ access to services in the Metro Phoenix community. He shared his perception that these community members have limited access to services and fewer resources in Spanish in general. Interview, 03–02–18 Lexi:

Tell me a little bit about what you think your clients or other Spanish speakers, specifically in the community. . . . What is their access like to medical services, or legal services, or to these informational services within the community here?

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(Continued) Miguel:

It does take me back to growing up, with my family being undocumented, we had very little access, limited access. . . . Many people that have limited resources or limited access to things because it’s just not provided to our community. It’s not provided maybe in their language. . . . I think that education is important or that access to that information and access to those resources are important. That our Latino community is definitely, in my opinion, much more limited in that access to those things.

Miguel’s experience highlights that, despite the hard work of organizations like Miguel’s, Hispanics/Latinxs in the U.S. face limited access to important resources and services. To systematically bridge the gap in access to resources for our Hispanic/Latinx communities, there is a clear need for the reformation of societal ideologies as well as legal procedures and laws within the U.S. There are many people like Miguel across the nation who are dedicated to narrowing the wide gaps that these individuals face. Recognizing the disparities that exist, I, too, want to be an ally in this systemic change. Having said this, I am not a service provider. I am not a medical provider or a lawyer. At the time of the research, I was a graduate student in academia. So, while in graduate school, I asked myself: How can members and allies of Hispanic/Latinx communities in academia support the mission of organizations like Miguel’s? How can we do our part in reducing the disparities that these communities face? After performing one of those extensive literature reviews we are all familiar with, I determined that a valuable step toward filling this gap could come from training individuals to speak Spanish in their professional venues and understand the varying cultural norms associated with this language. Many professionals in the U.S. are not adequately prepared for this type of work, as they either remain monolingual or do not have the appropriate level of linguistic or cultural competence for these types of contexts (Grosse & Voght, 1991, 2012). In other words, contrary to what many monolinguals may believe, just because someone speaks another language does not mean that they can fully operate within any context. The fact that I can speak Spanish does not mean I  have the linguistic or content knowledge necessary to explain medical procedures to patients. This is where educators, researchers, and program developers, among other positions, can make an important contribution to facilitating Spanishspeakers’ access to services and resources in the U.S. Through SSP, individuals in these positions can make a significant influence in preparing students who have the necessary linguistic and cultural competencies to provide services to and engage with Spanish-speaking community members respectfully. So, what is SSP? Let’s get to the pedagogical tenets of this book.

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The Pedagogical Background of the Book Languages for Specific Purposes

SSP begins with languages for specific purposes (LSP), a subfield of second language acquisition/applied linguistics (SLA/AL), which first emerged officially in the 1960s (Lafford et al., 2014; Sánchez-López, 2012; Upton, 2012). LSP strives to linguistically and culturally prepare individuals to work with speakers of a target language and target community within professional spheres (Lafford, 2012). The growth of LSP can be traced to two main catalysts: Globalization and an increase in immigration. The first of these, globalization, relates to the ties between community and national economies to the successes and failures of a more global economy. Successful working professionals must be able to interact with the languages and cultures of these global partners (Grosse  & Voght, 1991, 2012). Regarding immigration, as the number of individuals who do not speak the “dominant” language immigrating to an area increases, the need for professionals who have the linguistic and cultural competencies necessary to provide them with services also increases (Grosse & Voght, 1991) (see Lafford, 2012 for an in-depth discussion). Although these “catalysts” may account for much of the field’s growth, individuals come to participate in LSP in different ways. For example, LSP learners/users may come from or have extensive previous contact with the target linguistic and cultural communities. This is the case with all three interns with whom I worked. Penélope, originally from a small town in Colorado, is the second generation of her family to come to the U.S. from Mexico. She identifies as Mexican-American and grew up in a Spanish-speaking household. María was born and raised in Puerto Rico. She recognizes Spanish as her first language and the one where she best expresses herself. Although an L2 learner of Spanish, Petra had extensive contact with Spanish-speaking communities while serving an 18-month immersive mission in Guayaquil Sur, Ecuador, through her church.

Experiential Language Learning While Collaborating With the Community

Depending on the institution, LSP and SSP courses may vary greatly in context and execution. Some institutions may confine courses to the physical or digital classroom spaces, while others may encourage community engagement through service learning (i.e., community-service learning, critical-­ service learning) or internships. In this study, the interns engaged in experiential language learning (EX-LL) through internships.

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Internship Environments

Internships have been integrated into SLA/AL curriculum since the 1980s (Bloom, 2017) and may take a variety of different forms, such as an extended service-learning component of a course (summer/semester/yearlong). While service-learning can be more “flexible” in nature, internships must meet the seven criteria presented in Figure 1.2 to be considered legitimate internships that program developers and educators should keep in mind. These criteria are fundamental for institutions that want to include formal internships as part of their LSP curriculum. Experiential Language Learning

In addition to having legitimate internships, these experiences should be meaningful for students and foster their learning. To help educators and program developers understand, assess, and create opportunities for direct contact between LSP students and members of the community, internships (and service learning) are being explored through the adaptation of Experiential Learning Theory (ELT) (King de Ramírez & Lafford, 2017; Lafford, 2013). Building on Dewey (1938/1988), Kolb (1984) defined experiential learning as “the process whereby knowledge is created through the transformation of experience. Knowledge results from the combination of grasping and transforming experience” (p. 41). Noticing ELT’s potential benefits for language learning, Lafford (2013) adapted this concept to SLA/AL and coined the term EX-LL. Her extension of the four-stage experience learning cycle (Kolb et al., 2000) theoretically and practically conceptualizes language learning within a language learning and acquisition context. The elements in Figure  1.3 are foundational components for educators and program developers to integrate EX-LL into their curriculum. The Pertinent Theories and Frameworks of the Book

Now that we have established the pedagogical background for the book, we can dive into the pertinent theories and frameworks that guide this work. In EX-LL internships, SSP students are expected to communicate and collaborate with Spanish-speaking community members to carry out their internship duties. With such a goal in mind, an area pertinent to this type of hands-on learning is the continued development and/or acquisition of communicative competence. How am I  justifying this? Well, the research agenda for EX-LL states that investigations on “linguistic and cultural gains made in various types of internship venues needs would provide a greater understanding of how the affordances of different venues shape the development of learners’ communicative and cultural competence” ­(Lafford, 2013, p. 82).

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FIGURE 1.2 Internship Criteria (Adapted from the National Association of Colleges and Employers, 2011)

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FIGURE 1.3 Four-Stage EX-LL Cycle (Adapted from Kolb et al., 2000; Lafford, 2013)

Therefore, I  draw on the theoretical framework of communicative competence (Bachman  & Palmer, 1996) to investigate the interns’ (i.e., focal participants) “linguistic and cultural gains” during their EX-LL experiences. Specifically, as effective communication skills are necessary to facilitate interactions with and services to the community members, this book aspires to examine the interns’ linguistic development in one specific area of communicative competence: strategic knowledge. Within strategic knowledge, communicative strategies are the discursive strategies that interlocutors utilize to “bridge the gap” when communication breaks down (Bachman & Palmer, 1996). As previously posited, SSP students/users come to participate in LSP and EX-LL with diverse linguistic acquisition profiles and relationships within/to the target language and communities. Furthermore, as interns, they are taking up different types of roles in different community spaces that are likely sensitive to relationships of power. Therefore, I also analyze data through a poststructuralist approach to identity (Davies & Harré, 1990; Harré & Van Langenhove, 1991; Weedon, 1987, 2004) to explore: 1) What were the social functions of the strategies they chose to utilize? 2) What types of experiences were the interns afforded through their SSP internships? 3) How did the interns take advantage of these experiences to do different kinds of identity work that transcended the goals of the program?

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As previewed in this chapter, I also engaged in interviews with the community members with whom the interns interacted to learn: 4) What were community members’ experiences and perceptions regarding Hispanics’/Latinxs’ access to high-quality care and services in the U.S.? 5) What were community members’ perceptions of working with the SSP interns? What type of support could they receive for continued improvement and professional formation? In addition to analyzing these data, I  include quotations from interns and community members to illustrate components of pertinent theories and frameworks and help readers understand the context of the study. Communicative Competence and Communicative Strategies

Beginning with the first framework of this study, the construct of communicative competence first originated as a reaction to Chomsky’s narrow concept of linguistic competence (1965). Whereas linguistic competence only takes into account the grammar of a language, communicative competence addresses the social plane and functions as “the ability to interpret and enact appropriate social behaviors, and it requires the active involvement of the learner in the production of the target language” (Brandl, 2008, p.  5). During the 1980s and 1990s, several models of communicative competence were proposed (Bachman, 1990; Bachman  & Palmer, 1996; Canale, 1983; Canale  & Swain, 1980; Celce-Murcia et  al., 1995; Hymes, 1972; Savignon, 1972). Since this time, there has been a shift in how communicative competence is conceptualized (e.g., translanguaging, metrolingualism). These models continue to be utilized contemporarily as the foundation for communicative competence, to which researchers can explore more modern conceptualizations of communicative repertoires. Of the models proposed, the most comprehensive and appropriate for the context of this research is that of Bachman and Palmer (1996), represented in Figure 1.4. This model operationalizes communicative competence, or language knowledge, through three main constructs defined in Figure 1.5: (i) organizational knowledge, (ii) strategic knowledge, and (iii) pragmatic knowledge, and their sub-constructs. An Ecological Approach

While Bachman and Palmer’s model (1996) incorporates a wider variety of components, like other models of communicative competence, its organization implies both a fractioned and hierarchical conceptualization of this

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FIGURE 1.4 Model

of Communicative Competence (Adapted from Bachmann & Palmer, 1996)

FIGURE 1.5 

Organizational, Strategic, and Pragmatic Knowledge

construct. Given that through internships and service-learning, “learners reach comprehension of systemic relational codes afforded by authentic social environments and through social interactions” (Tocaimaza-Hatch & Walls, 2017, p. 53), a disjointed view of communicative competence is counterproductive to research with direct community involvement. Therefore,

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I  embraced this idea of language learning researchers and practitioners of service-learning and EX-LL (Lafford, 2013, Tocaimaza-Hatch  & Walls, 2017) by taking an ecological approach to language learning. Van Lier (2004) explains the biological metaphor of ecology as “the totality of relationships of an organism with which it comes into contact” (p. 3) and extends it to linguistics as “the study of the relations between language use and the world within which language is used” (p. 44). By applying this metaphor to communicative competence, I, as the researcher, can move from viewing its sub-constructs as exclusive, impermeable pieces to interconnected pieces. Such a view of language learning also permits a space for research that goes beyond only considering one type of learner (L2 learners). Instead, the journeys of other types of learners (i.e., those traditionally categorized as heritage language (HL)3 and native speakers – explored in more depth in Preface) can also be explored. These tenets also provide LSP scholars with a theoretical lens through which we can observe, understand, and/or evaluate different facets of learners’ journeys as they engage in EX-LL. Notwithstanding, this sub-construct of communicative competence focuses on the metacognitive processes at play but neglects the active role that the speaker plays in negotiating such processes. Therefore, as previously mentioned, I  draw on identity theory to understand why the interns made choices regarding particular communicative strategies and what functions these choices have in particular discourses. Identity: A Poststructuralist Approach

The first generation of sociolinguists (i.e., Gumperz, Hymes, Labov, Milroy, Rickford, and Trudgill) are credited with linking identity (understood as social categories, such as class, gender, and religion) to language use. Furthermore, researchers from the fields of sociolinguistics and anthropology (Gal, 1989; Heller, 1995a, 1995b; Woolard, 1998) are credited for conducting revolutionary research on the topic of multilingualism that has “led many scholars to consider language choices in multilingual contexts as embedded in larger social, political, economic, and cultural systems” (Pavlenko  & Blackledge, 2004, p.  11). Since then, identity has also become a phenomenon of interest to researchers and educators within bilingual and multilingual studies. Although there are various approaches to identity, I draw on poststructuralist approaches, which represent a contemporary postulation of identity theory. Some approaches have been criticized for reducing the multifaceted notion of identity to a binary and homogenous construct that supports monolingual and monocultural ideologies (Hamers & Blanc, 2000; Pavlenko, 2000) or emphasizing an exclusive link between language and a single speech

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community (Pavlenko  & Blackledge, 2004). In order to avoid this homogeneity, poststructuralist approaches offer SLA/AL researchers a framework through which they are able to go beyond the static conceptualization of a language learner that characterized research in the 1970s and 1980s. Instead, the identities of such learners are viewed as “fluid, context-dependent, and context producing, in particular historical and cultural circumstances” ­(Norton & Toohey, 2011, p. 419). Specifically, Bernstein (2014) explains: A poststructuralist view of identity takes identity as something that forms over time through repeatedly being positioned by others (or oneself) as a certain kind of person. This perspective moves away from an understanding of identity either as solely situated in a person’s view of him or herself or as a stable constellation of individual characteristics (like race, gender, age, class). Instead it is a shared social achievement, negotiated, or perhaps battled over, through language and interaction. (p. 14) In line with this perspective, I do not see identity as the static core of a person that is exclusively tethered to their individual characteristics; rather, I conceptualize it as something constructed by both the individual and other social actors within different discourses that span different times and spaces. Therefore, as will be illustrated throughout the book, I utilize positioning theory (Davies & Harré, 1990; Harré & Van Langenhove, 1991) to examine how the focal participants do identity work as they engage with different social actors in different discourses through their EX-LL and community-based SSP internship experiences. The Research Contexts, Participants, and Sites of the Book The Research Context

Let us finally learn more about who these participants are, with whom they interacted, and the spaces where these interactions took place. Penélope, Petra, and María were students pursuing a minor in the SSP program at a large university, Southwestern University, based in Arizona during the spring semester of 2018. As part of the required 18 credit hours, these students were engaging in the culminating experience of the minor program: professional community internships in the Metro Phoenix area with an accompanying online course. The community internships were established by collaboration between key leaders of these sites and the internship coordinator/instructor. Per the internship guidelines and contract for this course, the interns were required to complete 135 hours during the 15-week semester, with an average of 10 hours per week at the internship site.

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Complementing the overarching goal of the SSP minor program – h ­ elping “students hone Spanish communication skills and cultural knowledge that will help them serve the needs of the U.S. Latino community in professional settings” – there were additional outcomes established for the professional community internship in which Penélope, Petra, and María engaged. These goals were to (i) understand the organizational culture of the internship workplace, (ii) interact effectively with workplace colleagues and clients, (iii) participate in activities that meet the needs of the internship site, and (iv) improve their command of professional oral and written registers. Even though Penélope, Petra, and María were pursuing degrees in journalism at Southwestern University, they were not all assigned to journalismbased internship sites. The selected sites depended not only on their career interests but also on the departmental connections with relevant community partners and the availability of internships at these sites. Penélope and María aspired to obtain journalism careers in the Spanishlanguage market. They had built previous academic connections to the Spanish-language student newscast (i.e., the Phoenix Reportaje) based in the School of Journalism at Southwestern University. With the collaboration of the newscast supervisor and the internship coordinator/instructor, they were placed at the Phoenix Reportaje. Petra was preparing to be a journalist in the English-language market and worked primarily with the English-language student newscast (i.e., the Phoenix Report) at the School of Journalism. She had originally desired to complete an internship at a local news channel where she would translate stories for their Spanish-speaking audience. However, the internship coordinator/instructor informed her that because they did not have a pre-established relationship with this community site, it would be time-intensive to create an internship contract before the start of the semester, given the short time frame. She was, instead, offered the opportunity to carry out her internship at a community clinic where she would have the role of medical interpreter and scribe. With an interest in community engagement and an openness to new experiences, Petra agreed to an interview with the clinic’s medical director, who offered her the internship. Despite their varying internship placements, Penélope, Petra, and María were heavily involved at the School of Journalism throughout their degree trajectories at Southwestern University. Not only were their major classes housed within this school, but they also played active roles in the student-run newscasts. Their extensive involvement required them to collaborate with the newscast supervisor, faculty, staff, and other students. As the interns reported that the environment of the School of Journalism influenced their academic and professional encounters, it is necessary first to explore how the interns conceptualized this atmosphere before delving into the specific research sites. To do so, I present ethnographic descriptions of the research contexts and participants utilizing participant-reported data from a modified Language

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Contact Profile questionnaire (Freed et al., 2004), interviews, roleplays, diaries, and additional class assignments. Furthermore, I  utilize observational data and field notes I collected while completing three observations of each intern at their respective community sites. The School of Journalism: The Phoenix Report vs. The Phoenix Reportaje

The School of Journalism at Southwestern University is currently ranked as one of the top journalism schools in the nation. With this prestigious reputation and limited student seats, the application and acceptance processes are competitive. Once accepted to the program, this heightened sense of competition lives on within the walls of the School of Journalism. For example, Petra described how there was an underlying competitive nature between the “Caucasian” and “BIPOC” (Black, Indigenous, and people of color) students. In her experience, elements that were part of BIPOC students’ cultures and identities were hurdles for them to participate in labor and social mobility compared to their classmates (see Chapter  3 for an in-depth analysis). A hairstyle that was professional or casual for them or the act of translanguaging could (and did) keep them from getting certain opportunities on camera. Despite facing these discriminatory practices, Petra shared that she and her BIPOC classmates still did amazing things due to their resiliency and determination not to let any person or system keep them from chasing their dreams and doing what they wanted to do. As the School of Jouranlism houses professional programs, the majority of the accepted students have already chosen their career path and, as such, begin working towards their professional goals from their first day in the program. In the case of Petra, Penélope, and María, their professional development was linked to the English- and Spanish-language student-run newscasts. As previously mentioned, there are two student-run newscasts within the School of Journalism: The Phoenix Report (English language) and the Phoenix Reportaje (Spanish language). These newscasts are broadcast through major local channels (e.g., Public Broadcasting Service, Univision). The primary differences between these two entities are the size, opportunities, and resources that the language of broadcast affords to each team. Lack of Resources

To illustrate the first difference, during the spring semester of 2018, the Phoenix Report had sufficient faculty to teach the over 120 students who had the opportunity to report on various “beats” or genres, such as Frontier News, Education, and Justice. In contrast, as a new program in its early stages of development, the Phoenix Reportaje consisted of two student interns (i.e., Penélope, María), two other student anchors, and only one faculty associate who was

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the newscast supervisor and who ran the program. With such a small team, they did not have the opportunity to specialize in different beats. Instead, they focused on various issues related to Hispanics/Latinxs in the local community. The size of each team impacted the opportunities available to the interns (and students) to gain professional experience. For example, the televised frequency of the student-run newscasts depended on the number of students on each team. Logically, a larger team allowed for more frequent newscasts, as more individuals could contribute to its production. Whereas the Phoenix Report has historically housed a high number of students, the quantity of students that commit to the Phoenix Reportaje has remained relatively low. As an illustration, during the semester in which the research took place, it was only manageable for the team to produce a monthly televised newscast compared to the biweekly newscasts they had been able to produce in past semesters. Noticing the discrepancy in opportunities, María decided to get creative in how she could create more professional practice for herself and the other students at the Phoenix Reportaje. She had worked previously with the Phoenix Report team and noticed that they produced a daily Facebook Live show in addition to the televised newscast. This was a shorter newscast that they could stream and promote through social media. After proposing the idea to the Phoenix Reportaje supervisor and helping to work out the details, the students began to produce a weekly Facebook Live show in Spanish. Despite her initiative and hard work, María explained that the size of the Phoenix Reportaje team and the lack of resources they had limited the quality of broadcasts they were able to produce compared to those at the Phoenix Report. As such, she felt that the Phoenix Reportaje team was often looked down upon. Interview, 04–27–18 María:

Por ejemplo, nosotros cuando hacemos el noticiero de Facebook, el noticiero como tal, esperan tanto de nosotros y se ponen medio exigentes a veces, los del estudio, “¿Por qué no tienes esto? ¿Por qué si no tienes lo otro?” Somos cuatros personas. Ustedes tienen como 50 para un show. Like come on, cut me some slack. ¿En serio? Son cosas así. Entonces piensan menos de ti porque tú no estás preparado. Pues, si tengo menos recursos, ¿cómo voy a estar preparado? Y eso es un ejemplo especifico de las razones porque se ve la línea entre el Reportaje y el Report.

For example, when we do the Facebook newscast, the regular newscast, they expect just as much from us and get pretty demanding sometimes, the people in the studio. “Why don’t you have this? Why don’t you have that?” There are four of us. You all have like 50 people for a show. Like, come on, cut me some slack. Seriously? They’re things like that. So, then they think less of you because you aren’t prepared. Well, if I have fewer resources, how am I going to be prepared? And that is a specific example of the reasons why you can see the difference between the Reportaje and the Report.

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This sense of having a lesser value was just one of the many factors the interns reported contributing to a stark separation between the Phoenix Report and the Phoenix Reportaje. Institutional Isolation

Another challenge that Penélope and María reported facing was the sense of isolation that the Phoenix Reportaje team felt within the School of Journalism. Specifically, they reported feeling that the Phoenix Reportaje and the students who supported it were isolated institutionally from their classmates who had chosen a career in the English-speaking market. In addition to the factors previously exemplified (e.g., size of the program, lack of resources and opportunities), the topics of race, ethnicity, culture, and language came into play. Like at many institutions across the U.S., the interns’ experiences of multi-scalar discrimination often led to isolation within the School of Journalism. In this excerpt, María grappled with her experience as a minority student (i.e., racially, ethnically, culturally, linguistically) within this environment. Her experience highlights how discriminatory and racial acts can often be subtle and difficult to pinpoint or describe. One example is microaggressions, defined as “brief and commonplace daily verbal, behavioral, and environmental indignities, whether intentional or unintentional, that communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative racial slights and insults to the target person or group” (Sue et al., 2007, p. 273). Interview, 04–27–18

María:

Me he dado cuenta que el programa se ha aislado bastante ellos mismos, ahí en el tema este de conflicto de raza y cultura y todo . . . Yo no sé si uno, como minoría, piensa eso y realmente no es el caso, pero . . . No te sé decir algunos ejemplos porque realmente no es nada, así como concreto. Es como cosas, que uno como si fuera a pensar me dice, ¿why? ¿Me entiendes?

I’ve realized that those in the program have isolated themselves quite a bit. That’s where the topic of conflict of race, culture, and all of that comes in. . . . I don’t know if one, as a minority, thinks that and it really isn’t the case, but . . . I don’t know how to give you any examples because it isn’t really anything concrete. It’s like things that, if one were to think and tell me, why? You know what I mean?

María also described that the difference in language was a catalyst for the isolation of the Phoenix Reportaje. In her following description, María prioritized the School of Journalism, the larger organization to which they all belong, despite their language (or other) differences. In doing so, she saw the team’s bilingualism as both a motive for “self-isolation” and the

24  Spanish for Specific Purposes as an Opportunity for Advocacy

responsibility to bridge this segregation to promote coexistence and collaboration. Indeed, all students were tethered academically and physically to this larger organization. Not only was their degree housed within the School of Journalism, but also the studios, edit bays, and the majority of the classes were confined to this one building that represents the school. Despite this collective association with the School of Journalism, however, Penélope and María felt the burden of “bridging” interactions between the two student-run newscasts fell on the bilingual students and not the English monolingual students. If the Phoenix Reportaje team members wanted to make connections within the larger organization, professionally or socially, they would have to take the initiative to interact with their colleagues. Professionally, they were not sought out to collaborate on stories. Instead, the Phoenix Report students only came to them for help with translations. Socially, Penélope described how even at school events, the small group of students from the Phoenix Reportaje often felt left out, as the students from the Phoenix Report did not talk to them or include them in conversations. Therefore, they created and stayed in their own spaces at these events. Interview, 04–27–18 María:

Creo que el Reportaje ha cometido el error de aislarse ellos mismo, porque si tú le pides al Report ellos te dan, pero ellos no van a tomar la iniciativa de darte y de ayudarte. Así que siento que se han estado aislando [el Reportaje] por el tema del idioma claramente, pero al fin y al cabo viene siendo una organización. Pasa mucho. Incluso ayer hubo un evento de cierre de semestre en una barra, like restaurant, y estamos los del Reportaje en una esquina en vez de estar socializando porque somos bilingües, ¿o no?

I believe that el Reportaje has made the error of isolating themselves because if you ask for the Report, they’ll give it to you, but they aren’t going to take the initiative to give it to and help you. So I feel that they [el Reportaje] are isolating themselves because of the issue of language clearly, but in the end, it’s an organization. It happens a lot. Even yesterday, there was an end-of-the-semester event at a bar, like a restaurant, and all of us from el Reportaje were in a corner instead of socializing because we’re bilinguals, no?

Perhaps this unequal responsibility put on the Phoenix Reportaje team led them to physically self-isolate by establishing a space of their own. During my first observation of Penélope, her interviewee was in a mediation meeting running late, leaving us with a couple of free hours. We headed back to the School of Journalism so she could give me a tour and potentially get some other work done. When we arrived, she led me to the edit bays,

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where she spent most of her time. These bays consisted of individual rooms that housed computers and software equipment for the students to edit videos and work on any other projects they may have had. We walked swiftly by all the glass-covered rooms until we arrived at the only wooden door located in the corner. As the door opened, I could hear music playing in Spanish and typing on a computer. With three chairs, various backpacks, and equipment, we could barely squeeze in and shut the door. Penélope expressed that, despite the small space, they loved coming. She explained that “Mexicans are very . . .” and made a motion with her arms to show closeness and unity (Observation, 03–27–18). Although not all members of the Phoenix Reportaje crew were of Mexican descent, they had made this place a safe haven for their Hispanic/ Latinx community, marked by translanguaging and collaboration within the “shared” building. In this space, they worked together and helped each other. The day I was there, two Phoenix Reportaje students were already in this space working. One of these students was working on a story about tax cuts and asked Penélope to peer-edit his writing. She gave him feedback on grammar (“If it’s ‘a’ and ‘el,’ you can say ‘al’ ”) and format (e.g., anchor intro, closing out the package, creating the “teaser”). Penélope and the other student pitched ideas about interviews they would like to conduct. Real-world Reflections and Issues of Personal Security

The third challenge the interns reported facing within the School of Journalism reflects the real-world situation for journalists seeking work in the Spanish-language market. While waiting to interview Miguel, the local Hispanic lawyer committed to providing Hispanic/Latinx immigrants pro bono immigration services, Penélope and I began to discuss possible job opportunities for Spanish-language journalists within the U.S. She explained that Phoenix was currently the ninth-largest Hispanic television market in the U.S. (Statista, 2018). Additionally, according to the Univision Communications Inc. (2018) website, “Univision Local Media in Arizona is the #1 Hispanic media company serving 1.6 million Hispanics with $23 billion in spending power in the Phoenix DMA” (Designated Market Area). Despite the strong physical and economic presence of a Hispanic/Latinx/Spanish-speaking community, there is a lack of recognition for the Spanish-speaking news market by those in the English-speaking market and fewer resources. Penélope also shared that, as a journalist working actively in the community, she had observed and experienced such incongruities. One such difference was that the journalists who chose to work in the Spanish-language market essentially became their own team. They were not only responsible for the basic duties of a broadcaster (e.g., finding contacts, creating interview questions, carrying out an interview) but also for all the technical aspects

26  Spanish for Specific Purposes as an Opportunity for Advocacy

involved in creating their package (e.g., transporting and setting up equipment, recording interviews, editing videos). She also explained that in her own experience and dialogues with other Spanish-language journalists, working in a forced independent manner could lead to issues of personal security. As these reporters are responsible for transporting, setting up, and handling their own filming equipment, they often travel alone in a marked van known to the community to carry thousands of dollars of expensive equipment. Although English-speaking reporters also utilize marked vans, they may have a stronger sense of security as they typically travel with a team, can pack up more quickly, and leave while others are still on the scene. On the contrary, Spanish-speaking journalists are typically the last to leave the scene due to their additional duties, which isolates them even further. Traveling in a marked van with valuable equipment alone and late are all factors that can put Spanish-speaking journalists at higher risk for physical attacks and robbery. Penélope reported experiencing situations where she felt at risk. On a few occasions, members from the English-speaking news teams had even stayed on the scene to escort her and/ or her colleagues to their vehicles so they would not be alone. These real-world challenges, personal security issues, and the lack of resources and isolation that the Phoenix Reportaje team experienced shaped the interns’ SSP internship environments. Not only was the Spanish-language student-run newscast afforded fewer resources due to the infancy of the program, but its team members were expected to take on the additional task of reaching out to English monolingual colleagues and staff to make connections. These disparities played an important role in shaping the interns’ academic and professional experiences. As a graduate student carrying out research on their SSP internships, my presence also impacted their experiences. The Research Participants

As you may have (hopefully) picked up on, the participants of this study are the three SSP interns and the community members with whom they interacted (see the Preface for discussion on Indexing Bilingualism and Multilingualism in the book). The Interns

As presented earlier in Table 1.1, the three interns all identified as females and were seniors in the journalism program at Southwestern University, each with their own unique story. Petra Elena Estudillo Gracia

Petra is an Arizona native who identifies as Black and White. She first began learning Spanish in high school and initially took one semester at the

Spanish for Specific Purposes as an Opportunity for Advocacy  27

university level in 2012. The following year, after learning the “basics,” she decided to take a break from her studies to serve an 18-month immersive mission in Guayaquil Sur, Ecuador, through her church – or what she and her companions refer to as “la mejor misión del mundo” (the best mission in the world). She had her first experience with SSP when she traveled to Mexico City for six months to engage in language training for her missionary duties (e.g., teaching, preaching). These trainings were structured as tandem learning pairs, in which the English-speaking and Spanish-speaking missionaries acted as expert tutors to their counterparts. The intense preparation classes continued in Ecuador, where she had her first “humbling” experience with language variation. Not only was she working with other Spanish-speaking missionaries from around the globe, but she was also living in a country with a language variation different from that of the Southwestern U.S. where she had grown up. Although she was first exposed to Spanish in a formal academic setting, her learning journey went beyond the typical instrumental motivation of a supposed L2 speaker. In fact, when we were discussing ethnic and racial identification in our first interview, she told me, “I’m determined to find the Latina, because I swear it’s in there” (Interview, 02–26–18). This is a point that came up often, but with a disclaimer that her intention was not to be “ignorant” with this statement but rather to relay a sentiment that she has always felt connected to Spanish-speaking cultures. To illustrate, in addition to having been born and raised in a state that has continued to be influenced by the language and culture(s) of (primarily) Mexico even after the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848, she has internalized many cultural customs and values from growing up with Mexican-American family members. Her ties to the Hispanic/Latinx community also grew deeper throughout her spiritual journey during the 18-month religious mission in Ecuador. Her linguistic skills and cultural connections had become a part of her multilingual/multidialectal identity that she expressed through language, body, and action. An example of how she linguistically expresses her feeling of belongingness is her chosen pseudonym: Petra Elena Estudillo Gracia. She also shared that choosing a first, middle, and two last names for a pseudonym expressed her “extra,” or over-the-top personality that she is known to have by her friends and family. Petra always shows up with a banging outfit, will write the best social media captions, and is the first person to break out dance moves. Her family and prior experiences also influenced her career choice. Initially, Petra battled between declaring a major in sports medicine or sports journalism, a decision rooted in her experience as an athlete. Although she initially chose sports medicine, she quickly regretted her decision, realizing that journalism had always been “in her blood.” She specifically attributed this to the influence of her father, who worked for a prominent local news station. In addition to accompanying him to work and watching him on the news throughout her childhood and adolescence, he still plays an active role

28  Spanish for Specific Purposes as an Opportunity for Advocacy

in guiding and assisting her as she works on news stories. Ultimately, recognizing her love for pop culture and celebrities, she switched to broadcast journalism. Petra has a very clear and ambitious goal for her future: “I wanna be the next Oprah. I’m not shy about it. My friends and family call me Oprah” (Interview, 02–26–18). When I asked why this icon served as the foundation for her professional inspiration, she highlighted Oprah’s successes in journalism, finances, and business, especially as a Black woman in a (White) maledominated world. Having said this, the quality that she most admired and connected with was her dedication to philanthropy. Before beginning her SSP internship, Petra was already engaging in activities aligned with her personal and professional values. In addition to interning at two different sites during the spring semester of 2018, she was chosen as a reporter for a national foundation dedicated to spreading messages of positivity and kindness. Furthermore, she was gaining experience in the philanthropic world through her employment with a Christian nonprofit organization that provides meals to children in need around the world. Phoenix Community Clinic

With a desire to learn more about community engagement in a setting where she could interact directly with community members, Petra agreed to complete her community internship at a local community clinic. The Phoenix Community Clinic has sponsored a clinic to offer medical and dental services to the Metro Phoenix community since the 1970s, with a shift in 1994 to focusing on reaching individuals who do not have insurance and/or are considered “working-poor.” In addition to being a teaching institution that collaborates with various healthcare-based programs from academic institutions statewide, the doctors who offer general and specialized services do so on a volunteer basis. To reach both English- and Spanish-speaking patients, clinic reception staff, nurses, and even some doctors are proficient in both languages. Additionally, the clinic has volunteer interpreters to aid in communication between Spanish-speaking community members and medical staff who either do not speak Spanish or do not have the specific proficiency to ensure high-quality patient care for these types of medical encounters. In her internship, Petra acted primarily as a medical interpreter and scribe for various volunteer doctors, medical residents, and Spanish-speaking patients. Additional common duties included arriving at the site early to initialize the electronic medical record system and taking pictures of patient wounds. When medications were dispensed, Petra was also responsible for annotating the lot number and expiration date of the medication and writing patient instructions for the frequency of use of each medication.

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Penélope

Penélope, who identifies as a Mexican-American, is originally from a small town in Colorado that she reports as having the following demographics: 50% White, 30% Mexican (non-Spanish-speaking/do not practice the culture), and 30% Hispanic (Spanish-speaking). Although she stated that the first language she was exposed to was Spanish, she reported English to be her dominant language. She grew up in a household in which the primary language of her parents was Spanish. Her mother, who can understand English but does not feel comfortable speaking it, stayed at home with her and her siblings. Contrastively, her father speaks English for work but “doesn’t like” to speak it. As a child, she was additionally exposed to Spanish during trips to Mexico that would last one to three months to visit family. Her last trip took place when she was approximately ten years old. As she grew up, her older siblings’ exposure to the socially and academically dominant language of English outside of the home began to impact Penélope’s language use and preference. Despite her parents’ inclination toward Spanish, English became the dominant language of communication for her and her siblings, both inside and outside the home. Therefore, she explained that by the time she got to kindergarten, she felt more comfortable using English than her first language, Spanish. Penélope had always thought she would follow her siblings’ paths by beginning at a local community college to prepare for a career in criminal justice. However, her plans changed when she spontaneously applied to the journalism program (with an emphasis in broadcasting) in Arizona after a fight with her mother. Although she had never planned to pursue this career path, Penélope felt it was fitting for her personality. In addition to being a very vocal and social individual, reflecting on her childhood, she stated that her family would always announce her presence by exclaiming, “¡Extra, extra! ¡Ahí viene el periódico!” (Extra, extra! Here comes the newspaper!) (Interview, 02–17–18). After receiving notice of her acceptance, Penélope began to explore more profoundly the possibility of attending an out-of-state, four-year university despite the lack of support from her family. In addition to “not feeling anything” (Interview, 02–17–18) when visiting the campus based in Colorado, she would only have been able to take a couple of courses there before transferring to a four-year university due to her preparatory work in high school. Additionally, she found the program at Southwestern University to be much more “modern” and “hands-on,” prompting her to visit the campus to which she felt a deeper connection. In her first two years, Penélope took courses geared toward a digital broadcast journalism career within the English-language market. Despite her bilingual abilities and cultural connections to her Mexican culture, she

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steered away from a career as a Spanish-language journalist as she perceived the Spanish-language audience as very small. Additionally, she evaded this career possibility to avoid the “corny” image that her friends and family constructed of her. Specifically, they would always make comments, such as “Vas a salir en Univision” (You are going to be on Univision) and “Wow, ¡qué nice!” (Wow, how nice!) (Interview, 02–17–18). Ultimately, a scheduling conflict led her to take a course in bilingual reporting, where her first story featured a friend’s father, Rafael, who offered immigration services, English classes, and citizenship classes to the Hispanic/Latinx communities in Arizona. As she compiled this story, she had a “feeling” that this was the right path for her and that this was something that “actually mattered.” She realized that not everyone could do this work in Spanish, but she could. Since taking this class, she changed her focus to journalism within the Spanishspeaking market and eventually completed her SSP internship at the Phoenix Reportaje. Phoenix Reportaje

As previously mentioned, the Phoenix Reportaje is referred to as a “professional program” that was specifically created to offer students bilingual in Spanish and English the opportunity to engage in both a professional and immersive experience related to borderland issues and those affecting the Latinx/Hispanic community (e.g., immigration, education, economy). As the students themselves lead the program, they are exposed to both the technical and interactional facets of mass media production by investigating, reporting, and producing digital and video stories in the Spanish language. These reports are transmitted vis-à-vis two different broadcasts: A traditional television newscast and a short Facebook live stream. As Penélope was specializing in (multimedia) broadcasting, examples of common duties that she performed included attending community gatherings, speaking with and interviewing relevant key social actors of the community (e.g., immigration lawyers, social activists, local leaders), writing scripts for digital reports, editing video for digital reports, recording teasers for upcoming news segments, and reporting/anchoring for the televised news show and Facebook live stream. María

María was born and raised on the island of Puerto Rico, where she communicated primarily in Spanish across all contexts (i.e., personal, academic, professional). As such, she recognized this as her first language and the language in which she could best express herself. Having said this, she did learn English in an academic setting and considered herself to have “native-like”

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skills in the areas of listening, reading, and writing. María attributed her language acquisition to her simultaneous exposure to formal instruction in both English and Spanish. In fact, from preschool to seventh grade, she attended an “American school” in which all subjects were taught in English, with the exception of Spanish language arts classes. Her family intentionally sent her to this school so that she would develop strong skills in English, based on her older sister’s success after entering the school in fourth grade. Attending a university in the continental U.S. was always part of María’s plan. Since high school, she had the mentality of “Me quiero ir. Me quiero ir” (I want to leave. I want to leave). In addition to the general ideology on the island that, “Si tú quieres lograr mucho, te tienes que ir” (If you want to achieve a lot, you have to leave), her father also played a strong role in this desire. He would often tell her, “Vete porque aquí no hay nada” (Go because there is nothing here) (Interview, 02–26–18). Her original career aspirations to study film also shaped her decision to seek a path in higher education outside of Puerto Rico. She felt there were few opportunities to develop a career in this industry on the island. With these different elements in mind, she began applying to different programs on the mainland during her senior year of high school – one of those being Arizona, as her aunt and uncle reside in the area. After receiving acceptance and an attractive economic assistance package, she moved to the Southwest. Although she spoke both of the prominent languages in Arizona, María considered herself a cultural and linguistic “outsider” of the Metro Phoenix speech community. Although she initially chose film as her major due to her love of the arts, she found it to be slow-paced and lacking the feeling of adrenaline that she desired. Upon later investigation of her “major map,” or list of classes needed to graduate with a degree in film, she discovered that work in television was required. Realizing this was not what she wanted to do, she investigated other possibilities and found journalism. She ultimately made the switch to this major, not for the field of journalism per se but rather for the opportunity to engage in production. Despite switching from film to journalism, María always intended to work in the Spanish-speaking market, preferably in Puerto Rico or a different area of Latin America. Phoenix Reportaje

María was also completing her internship at the Phoenix Reportaje, specializing in production. In addition to pioneering the Facebook Live show, she primarily performed production-related duties for both the television broadcast and Facebook shows. Outside of airtime, her key duties included searching for relevant topics to be covered, identifying and incorporating stories the broadcasters were working on and/or had already covered into the program, organizing the rundown for the show, editing videos, and writing scripts.

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During the Facebook live show, María would take on the role of producer, ensuring that the broadcast flowed and was on time. From her post in the control room, she was required to engage in receptive and productivebased activities to make in-the-moment decisions and work with various social actors (i.e., camera crew, tech crew, reporters, producers). While doing so, she used her Spanish and English skills and implemented her translanguaging abilities. She collaborated with the English-speaking tech crew to ensure all videos and graphics were correct and appeared in the appropriate sequence. She also served as a multilingual mediator between this crew and the broadcasting team, relaying information between the two. For example, she communicated any technical issues the broadcasters were experiencing and/or suggestions from the tech team (e.g., slower dictation). María was also charged with ensuring the linguistic accuracy of the broadcast by giving general feedback, explicitly correcting errors (primarily pronunciation), and making impromptu edits to the scripts. Finally, if the show was too “heavy” and going over time, she would make decisions about what material to take out. The Community Members

In addition to the interns, I also include the perspectives and feedback from Spanish-speaking community members, some of which I have already introduced. All community members interacted with the interns through their work as part of their internship. As illustrated previously in Table 1.2, the community members spotlighted in this study were born in Mexico and made their way to the Phoenix Metro area. One of the most salient differences between them was the motive for the interaction with the intern: (i) seeking services in the community or (ii) facilitating services within the community. Due to the unique nature of each internship, the interns interacted with community members in different manners and with varying frequencies. For example, as Petra worked as a medical interpreter, the basis of her duties involved interacting directly with multiple community members during a shift to help facilitate communication and care between said members and the physician. As a reporter, one of Penélope’s duties was to seek out community members to interview, whose work and/or experience might relate to the story she was working on at a specific moment in time. Finally, as the producer, María had the most limited contact with community members. She spent most of her time completing tasks in the newsroom, control room, and/or the edit bays. The only opportunity in which I was able to observe her working with a community member was when Rafael, a paralegal, came into the Phoenix Report/Reportaje studio to shoot a Facebook Live video with Penélope to promote the citizenship and English classes that his organization offers to the Hispanic/Latinx community.

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Lexi

Considering that qualitative research positions the researcher as the first and most influential tool in the research design, implementation, and analysis processes (Ravitch  & Mittenfelner Carl, 2016), it is vital to unpack and understand one’s own researcher positionality. As will be described in Chapter 6, a researcher’s positionality communicates how they are connected to and how they impact the research sites and participants. Given that positionalities are dynamic and multifaceted, I engaged in an in-depth reflection, presented shortly, to do my best to capture the complexities of my role. As a Researcher and Practitioner

How relationships develop and are sustained (or not) over time reveals important personal implications and consequences to the research. When reflecting upon my research positionality, I have strived to follow AnthonyStevens (2017) by considering my privilege and positionality within the ethnohistoric context of the communities and by working towards becoming a critical ally. I have come to self-identify as a critical applied linguist whose passion for education and community-based research, and whose daily life relates to addressing social justice issues through civic engagement that leads to changes for the community and from within the community inspired by knowledge and research from a critical perspective. As an Observer and Social Actor

Various interacting factors also influenced my role and social location/identity in relation to the participants. These factors were not stagnant nor neatly delineated; rather, “we can be insiders and outsiders to a particular community . . . at many different levels and at many different times” (Villenas, 1996, p. 722). For example, I related to these participants on a certain level, as I, too, was a female student trying to navigate the waters of academia, working towards a future career, and ultimately completing some type of required work outside of the classroom walls and in the community. Additionally, my race (White), socioeconomic status (majority culture/middle-class), gender (female), and geographical history (from North Dakota) status may also have positioned me as an “insider,” “outsider,” and/or “both” in different ways and simultaneous moments in time (Corbin Dwyer & Buckle, 2009) (see the Preface for a more detailed account of my journey). Finally, being a researcher and observer created a power dynamic – between me, the interns, and any other social actors involved – no matter the conscious efforts I took to minimize it. As I indeed was very conscious of these dynamics, this was a particular issue with which I grappled throughout the entirety

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of the research. Having said this, the dynamics of these r­elationships were particular to my relationship with each intern. For example, the moments in which I  was closest to a true, non-participatory “observer” occurred while observing María in the control room. We engaged in some small talk before and after the recordings, but during the show, María’s duties as a producer required her complete attention. I  would set down my phone to record, grab a seat behind her in the back of the room, and take field notes in (mostly) complete silence. There were instances when she would make comments to me during the show or introduce me to those who entered the room (e.g., newscast supervisors). While observing Penélope, I found myself playing a more active role by initiating small talk with the community members she was interviewing. Growing up in the Midwest, it has always been a part of my culture to try and make others feel welcome through this type of communication. Although I am aware of this, it was particularly hard to “turn off,” especially in situations where Penélope and the community member did not have a prior relationship. That being said, it did not seem to place her role as the expert in jeopardy. On the contrary, Penélope took the lead when completing off-site interviews. She indicated where we should film and what type of footage was necessary, assisted the interviewees with the microphones, and set the parameters of the actual interview. Finally, while observing Petra, my role often shifted from a silent observer to a participant observer. In several of the patient visits, there were moments in which Petra and the residents/volunteer doctors positioned me as the linguistic expert by appealing directly to me. For example, one resident told Petra to “ask her” (me) for linguistic help during the visit. There was another case when a doctor asked Petra to step outside to print materials for the patient and designated that I continue translating for the remainder of the visit. Finally, there were instances when I inserted myself into the visit. For example, during my second observation, we encountered Valentina, a 70-year-old woman being seen for diabetes. As this was her first visit to the clinic, there was a lot of information to cover, and the intake questions were particularly detailed. The following excerpt illustrates a moment during Valentina’s visit in which I shifted from a silent to a participant observer. Interview, 04–06–18 Valentina:

En el dedo grande y el dedo al lado, me ­picaron seis abejas . . .

Six bees stung me in the big toe and the toe right next to it . . .

Petra:

*Smiles and nods head*

Lexi:

Did you get that?

Spanish for Specific Purposes as an Opportunity for Advocacy  35

(Continued) Petra:

No! I heard something about “abeja,” but I can’t remember what it means . . .

Lexi:

Bee!

Petra:

Oh, bee!

Lexi:

So, she was saying that six bees bit her big toe and the toe next to it.

As the doctor examined her feet, the patient described getting stung by bees on her toe. I  observed Petra while she smiled lightly and nodded her head. As a fellow speaker in similar situations, I surmised that through these gestures, Petra was feigning understanding (Dörnyei & Scott, 1997), which played the role of saving face during a moment of incomprehensibility. She also was not typing anything into Google Translate or attempting to implement another strategy to overcome this gap in communication. I had an ethical dilemma. I was not the interpreter. But I was aware that Petra would not be able to report information back that could be pertinent to the patient’s health. I  decided to intervene with the rationalization that I  was helping ensure quality care for the patients. As a Language Learner

My language journey also reveals my ever-interacting positionality and the power of my role as an L2 learner of Spanish. To understand the power and implications of how one learns or acquires a language on a broader social level, we must first explore literature deriving from the field of language learning policy. Speakers of the majority group within a particular society tend to approach languages from a certain perspective: (i) language-as-­problem, (ii) language-asright, and/or (iii) language-as-resource (Ruíz, 1984). In the U.S., these speakers with power often see “minority” languages as problematic (Cashman, 2006). Purposeful efforts are being made to fight against this agenda and instead push for a societal conceptualization of languages as both rights and resources, such as in the case of HL pedagogy (see Beaudrie et al., 2014 for further discussion). In pushing for the conceptualization of languages as both a right and a resource, we must combat the perception that minority languages are problematic, including the celebration of differential bilingualism. Differential bilingualism: describes the unequal value accorded by the English monolingual majority to the bilingual skills of Anglo members of the language majority, which tend to be seen as a resource and achievement, and those of Latinos and

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other language minority or immigrant groups, which tend to be seen as a problem and a deficiency. (Cashman, 2006, p. 42) Therefore, L1 English speakers who speak a non-English L2 are typically held in higher esteem than those coming from minority and/or immigrant groups whose bilingualism is viewed “at best as a barrier to full participation in the democracy and at worse as a sign of divided loyalty or disloyalty” (Cashman, 2006, p. 42). I am bilingual, with English being my first language and Spanish being my second. In addition to having had the ability to travel to various Spanishspeaking countries and study abroad in Buenos Aires, Argentina, I  have spent a vast amount of time in my husband’s homeland, Puerto Rico, where I  currently live. During my travels, I  have had the opportunity to create cultural and familial connections to Puerto Rico and develop both formal and informal linguistic features common to this Caribbean variety. Through this lens, María and I were able to connect most deeply: as a nonlocal, she felt that many Spanish speakers could not understand her and vice versa. As we shared this variety, we did not find this to be an issue and could speak of cultural topics and utilize linguistic features common to the island. Despite these cultural and linguistic connections, I initially learned Spanish as an L2 in a classroom setting. I benefit from differential bilingualism and am celebrated by some for learning a second language formally that they simultaneously view as a deficiency for others. I  have also had the opportunity to develop further what some would consider a “prestigious” and “academic” variety by completing higher education degrees with content in English and Spanish. Although I can interact culturally and linguistically within certain communities on both a formal and informal level, my English skills and how I have acquired my second language do place me within the societal language majority, thus affording me certain privileges. There were cases during this research where social actors looked to me instead of the intern, perhaps due to my position as a researcher or because they viewed me as having a more “prestigious” variety. In light of my privilege, I  believe that languages are both a right and a resource. Although I  have formed my personal, academic, and professional character around this belief, I ultimately have and will continue to experience privilege for which I cannot wholly understand the experiences of speakers of minority languages and other immigrant groups. Instead, my commitment to preserving languages and fighting for the linguistic rights of these groups can be manifested in a critical alliance with these individuals. As explained in the Preface, this is one of my main purposes in carrying out this research and writing this book. I hope, throughout this and the remaining chapters, I can serve in a critical ally role to amplify the experiences of Penélope, Petra, María, and

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the community members, and help make a positive impact by highlighting the need for SSP to support Hispanic/Latinx communities in the U.S., and internships that support interns as students, professionals, and individuals. Takeaways and Points for Continued Reflection

After each chapter of the book, “Takeaways and Points for Continued Reflection” will be offered to guide the reader in reflecting on and applying the information presented in SSP programs and research.

Takeaways and Points for Continued Reflection • Think about your SSP students/participants and their diverse journeys. You may need to do further work to answer some of these questions, such as conducting mini-interviews or surveys. ○ How did they come to participate in SSP? ○ What are their experiences and relationships with the target language? ○ What are their experiences and relationships with the target community(ies)? ○ What is their motivation for engaging in SSP? • Reflect on how (if at all) EX-LL experiences are offered to students at your institution (e.g., community service-learning, internships). If your institution does not currently offer any EX-LL opportunities, imagine you are the program developer responsible for creating them. ○ What are the needs of the target community? How are the EX-LL experiences responding to a real need within this community? ○ How are program developers/instructors collaborating with the community partners to ensure that the EX-LL experiences are meaningful for students while beneficial to community members? ○ In what ways are students able to apply the skills and knowledge learned in the classroom through the EX-LL experiences? ○ How are students given opportunities to reflect on their EX-LL experiences and interactions with communities in a meaningful way? • Explore how you/your institution is conceptualizing community servicelearning and who this work is benefiting. ○ Who are the primary beneficiaries of EX-LL experiences at your institution? ○ Does your institution foreground mutual and respectful collaboration between participants and community members? Are students aware of this goal and their responsibility in carrying it out?

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○ How is your institution working with the community and not for the community? ○ Are EX-LL experiences implemented in a way that reinforces or combats damaging ideologies and power structures in the target community? ○ How are community members benefiting from the EX-LL experiences? ○ Are community members’ thoughts, experiences, and feedback requested and taken into account? • Review how EX-LL opportunities are implemented and assessed at your institution and/or in your research. ○ Which of the elements outlined in Figure  1.3 are you currently implementing and assessing? ○ What elements beyond those outlined in Figure 1.3 have helped you to implement and assess EX-LL opportunities at your institution and/or in your research? • Do some individual research and invite your students to do some research on the historical and modern political and social landscape of where you (and your students) live, work, and play. You might consider looking at the following across time: historical events, demographic information (e.g., U.S. Census Bureau), state legislation, and political candidates and their platforms. ○ How has the landscape affected minoritized community members? ○ Are your learners/participants aware of the political and social landscape and its effects on different communities? If not, what activities can you implement to help them learn about the political and social landscape? ○ Which learners/participants identify as part of an affected community? How have the learners/participants been affected? • Does your institution utilize traditional speaker classifications? Do you (as an educator, program developer, researcher, etc.) rely on traditional speaker classifications? ○ What impact could such classifications have on your students/ participants? ○ How can you work toward emphasizing speakers’ and learners’ experiences with language and culture? ○ How much do you know about your students’/participants’ experiences with language and culture? How can you get to know more? • What are the social and political tensions present at your institution, program, EX-LL sites, classroom, and/or research sites? ○ How do these tensions affect your students/participants? ○ How do your students/participants grapple with these tensions? Are they actively reflecting on them?

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Notes 1 I use the term Latinx throughout the dissertation as an effort to go beyond the idea of binary gender that other forms of this lexical item may imply. For a historical review of the term “Latinx,” see Salinas Jr. (2020), and for a review of the critiques of “Latinx” as homogenizing, see Zentella (1995). 2 Research participants chose or were assigned a pseudonym to protect their anonymity. 3 An individual “who is raised in a home where a non-English language is spoken, who speaks or merely understands the heritage language, and who is to some degree bilingual in English and the heritage language” (Valdés, 2000, p. 1).

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Celce-Murcia, M., Dörnyei, Z., & Thurrell, S. (1995). Communicative competence: A  pedagogically motivated model with content specifications. Issues in Applied Linguistics, 6(2), 5–35. Center for Disease Control and Prevention. (2004). Access to health-care and preventive services among Hispanics and non-Hispanics-United States, 2001–2002. MMWR Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 53(40), 937–941. Chomsky, N. (1965). Aspects of the theory of syntax. The M.I.T. Press. Cobb, C. L., Xie, D., Meca, A., & Schwartz, S. J. (2017). Acculturation, discrimination, and depression among unauthorized Latinos/as in the United States. American Psychological Association, 23(2), 258–268. Columbia Law School Human Rights Institute & Northeastern University School of Law Program on Human Rights and the Global Economy. (2014). Equal access to justice: Ensuring meaningful access to counsel in civil cases, including immigration proceedings. http://web.law.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/microsites/humanrights-institute/files/equal_access_to_justice_-_cerd_shadow_report.pdf Corbin Dwyer, S.,  & Buckle, J. (2009). The space between: On being and insideroutsider in qualitative research. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 8(1), 54–63. Davies, B.,  & Harré, R. (1990). Positioning: The discursive production of selves. Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour, 20, 43–63. Dewey, J. (1938/1988). Experience in education. In J. A. Boydston  & B. Levine (Eds.), John Dewey: The later works, 1925–1953: Vol. 13.1938–1939 (pp. 1–62). Southern Illinois University Press. Dörnyei, Z., & Scott, M. L. (1997). Communication strategies in a second language: Definitions and taxonomies. Language Learning, 47(1), 173–210. Escarce, J., & Kapur, K. (2006). Access to and quality of health care. In M. Tienda & F. Mitchell (Eds.), Hispanics and the future of America. (pp. 410–446). National Academics Press (US). www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK19910/ Estrada, S. (2017). The effects of microaggressions on blood pressure in the Latino population [Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Alliant International University]. Findling, M. G., Bleich, S. N., Casey, L. S., Blendon, R. J., Benson, J. M., Sayde, J. M., & Miller, C. (2019). Discrimination in the United States: Experiences of Latinos. Health Services Research, 54(S2), 1409–1418. Flores, E., Tschann, J. M., Dimas, J. M., Bachen, E. A., Pasch, L. A.,  & de Goat, C. L. (2008). Perceived discrimination, perceived stress, and mental and physical health among Mexican-origin adults. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 30(4), 401–424. Freed, B., Dewey, D., Segalowitz, N., & Halter, R. (2004). The language contact profile. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 26, 349–356. Furman, R., Negi, N. J., Iwamoto, D. K., Rowan, D., Shukraft, A.,  & Gragg, J. (2009). Social work practice with Latinos: Key issues for social workers. Social Work, 54(2), 167–174. Gal, S. (1989). Language and political economy. Annual Review of Anthropology, 18, 345–367. Gaston, S. A., Atere-Roberts, J., Ward, J., Slopen, N. B., Forde, A. T., Sandler, D. P., Williams, D. R., & Jackson, C. L. (2021). Experiences with everyday and major forms of racial/ethnic discrimination and Type 2 diabetes among White, Black, and Hispanic/Latina women: Findings from the sister study. American Journal of Epidemiology, 190(12), 2552–2562.

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Gomez, G. R. (2023, September  12). Arizona Superintendent sues AG, governor over dual language instruction in schools. The74. www.the74million.org/article/ horne-sues-ag-governor-over-dual-language-instruction-in-arizona-schools/ Grosse, C. U., & Voght, G. M. (1991). The evolution of languages for specific purposes in the United States. The Modern Language Journal, 75(2), 181–195. Grosse, C. U., & Voght, G. M. (2012). Reprint of the evolution of languages for specific purposes in the Unites States. The Modern Language Journal, 96(s1), 28–42. Hacker, K., Chu, J., Leung, C., Marra, R., Pirie, A., Brahimi, M., English, M., Beckmann, J., Acevedo-Garcia, D., & Marlin, R. P. (2011). The impact of immigration and customs enforcement on immigrant health: Perceptions of immigrants in Everett, Massachusetts, USA. Social Science & Medicine, 73(4), 586–594. Hamers, J., & Blanc, M. (2000). Bilinguality and bilingualism (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press. Hanna, T. (2017). English-only states and native language assessment under ESSA. New America. www.newamerica.org/education-policy/edcentral/native-languageassessment-essa/ Harré, R.,  & Van Langenhove, L. (1991). Varieties of positioning. Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour, 21(4), 393–407. Heller, M. (1995a). Language choice, social institutions, and symbolic domination. Language in Society, 24, 373–405. Heller, M. (1995b). Code-switching and the politics of language. In L. Milroy  & P. Muysken (Eds.), One speaker, two languages: Cross-disciplinary perspectives on code-switching (pp. 158–174). Cambridge University Press. Hymes, D. H. (1972). On communicative competence. In J. B. Pride  & J. Holmes (Eds.), Sociolinguistics (pp. 269–293). Penguin Education, Penguin Books Ltd. King de Ramírez, C.,  & Lafford, B. (2017). Mentors’ perspectives on professional internships: Rewards, challenges and future directions. In M. Bloom & C. Gascoigne (Eds.), Creating experiential learning opportunities for language learners: Acting locally while thinking globally (pp. 135–159). Routledge. Kolb, D., Boyatzis, R. E., & Mainemelis, C. (2000). Experiential learning theory: Previous research and new directions. In R. J. Sternberg & L. Zhang (Eds.), Perspectives on thinking, learning, and cognitive styles (pp. 193–210). Lawrence Erlbaum. Kolb, D. A. (1984). Experiential learning: Experience as the source of learning and development. Prentice-Hall. Lafford, B. (2012). Languages for specific purposes in the United States in a global context: Commentary on Grosse and Voght (1991) revisited. The Modern Language Journal, 96(s1), 1–27. Lafford, B. (2013). The next frontier: A research agenda for exploring experiential language learning in international and domestic contexts. In J. Cabrelli Amaro, G. Lord, A. de Prada Pérez, & J. E. Aaron (Eds.), Selected proceedings of the 16th Hispanic linguistics symposium (pp. 80–102). Cascadilla Proceedings Project. Lafford, B., Abbott, A., & Lear, D. (2014). Spanish in the professions and in the community in the US. Journal of Spanish Language Teaching, 1(2), 171–186. Martínez, G. A. (2010). Medical Spanish for heritage learners: A  prescription to improve the health of Spanish-speaking communities. In S. Rivera-Mills & J. A. Trujillo (Eds.), Building communities and making connections (pp. 2–15). Cambridge Scholars Publishing in Association with GSE Research. Martinez, M., Wu, E., Sandfort, T., Dodge, B., Carballo-Dieguez, A., Pinto, R., Rhodes, S., Moya, E., & Chavez-Baray, S. (2015). Evaluating the impact of immigration

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policies on health status among undocumented immigrants: A systematic review. Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health, 17, 947–970. National Association of Colleges and Employers. (2011). Position statement: U.S. internships. www.naceweb.org/about-us/advocacy/position-statements/positionstatement-us-internships/ Norton, B.,  & Toohey, K. (2011). Identity, language learning, and social change. Language Teaching, 44(4), 412–446. Pavlenko, A. (2000). Access to linguistic resources: Key variable in second language learning. Estudios de Sociolinguistica, 1(2), 85–105. Pavlenko, A., & Blackledge, A. (Eds.). (2004). Negotiation of identities in multilingual contexts (Vol. 45). Multilingual Matters. Pérez, M. C.,  & Fortuna, L. (2005). Psychological stressors, psychiatric diagnoses and utilization of mental health services among undocumented migrant Latinos. Journal of Immigrant & Refugee Services, 3, 107–123. Potowski, K. (2015). Ethnolinguistic identities and ideologies among Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, and “MexiRicans” in Chicago. In R. Márquez Reiter & L. Martín Rojo (Eds.), A sociolinguistics of diaspora: Latino practices, identities and ideologies (pp. 13–30). Routledge. Ravitch, S. M., & Mittenfelner Carl, N. C. (2016). Qualitative research: Bridging the conceptual, theoretical, and methodological. SAGE Publishing. Ruíz, R. (1984). Orientations in language planning. NABE Journal, 8(2), 15–34. Salinas, Jr., C. (2020). The complexity of the “x” in Latinx: How Latin/x/a/o students relate to, identify with, and understand the term Latinx. Journal of Hispanic Higher Education, 19(2), 149–168. Sánchez-López, L. (2012). Spanish for specific purposes. The encyclopedia of applied linguistics. Wiley. Savignon, S. J. (1972). Communicative competence: An experiment in foreign language. Center for Curriculum Development. Skutnabb-Kangas, T.,  & McCarty, T. L. (2008). Key concepts in bilingual education: Ideological, historical, epistemological, and empirical foundations. In J. Cummins  & N. Hornberger (Eds.), Encyclopedia of language and education (pp. 1466–1482). Springer US. Statista. (2018). Largest Hispanic TV markets in the United States in the 2017/18 TV season, by number of TV households. www.statista.com/statistics/189824/ largest-hispanic-television-markets-in-the-united-states-2011/ Sue, D. W., Capodilupo, C. M., Torino, G. C., Bucceri, J. M., Holder, A. M., Nadal, K. L., & Esquilin, M. (2007). Racial microaggressions in everyday life: Implications for clinical practice. American Psychologist, 62(4), 271–286. Tocaimaza-Hatch, C., & Walls, L.C. (2017). Service learning as an ecological recourse: Providing learning opportunities for mixed second and heritage language classrooms. In M. Bloom & C. Gascoigne (Eds.), Creating experiential learning opportunities for language learners: Acting locally while thinking globally (pp. 53–71). Routledge. Torres, L., & Taknint, J. T. (2015). Ethnic microaggressions, traumatic stress symptoms, and Latino depression: A moderated mediational model. American Psychological Association, 62(3), 393–401. U.S. Census Bureau. (2020a). 2020 American community survey: Demographic and housing estimates. https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?q=DP05&g=1600000US0 455000&tid=ACSDP5Y2020.DP05

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U.S. Census Bureau. (2020b). 2020 American Community Survey: Poverty status in the past 12 months. https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?q=poverty&g=1600000U S0455000&tid=ACSST5Y2020.S1701 U.S. Census Bureau. (2021a). QuickFacts: Arizona. www.census.gov/quickfacts/AZ U.S. Census Bureau. (2021b). QuickFacts: United States. www.census.gov/quickfacts/US Univision Communications Inc. (2018). Phoenix overview. https://corporate.univision.com/partner-with-us/local/phoenix/ Upton, T. A. (2012). LSP at 50: Looking back, looking forward. Ibérica, 23, 9–28. Urbina, M. (2004). Language barriers in the Wisconsin court system. Journal of Ethnicity in Criminal Justice, 2(1–2), 91–118. Valdés, G. (2000). Introduction. In AATSP professional development series handbook for teachers K-16. Vol. 1: Spanish for native speakers (pp. 1–20). American Association for Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese. van Lier, L. (2004). The ecology and semiotics of language learning. Kluwer Academic. Villenas, S. (1996). The colonizer/colonized Chicana ethnographer: Identity, marginalization, and cooptation in the field. Harvard Educational Review, 66, 711–731. Viruell-Fuentes, E. A., Miranda, P. Y., & Abdulrahim, S. (2012). More than culture: Structural racism, intersectionality theory, and immigrant health. Social Science & Medicine, 75, 2099–2106. Weedon, C. (1987). Feminist practice and poststructuralist theory. Blackwell. Weedon, C. (2004). Identity and culture. Open University Press. Whitaker, K. M., Everson-Rose, S. A., Pankow, J. S., Rodriguez, C. J., Lewis, T. T., Kershaw, K. N., Diez Roux, A. V., & Lutsey, P. L. (2017). Experiences of discrimination and incident Type 2 diabetes mellitus: The Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA). American Journal of Epidemiology, 186(4), 445–455. Woolard, K. (1998). Introduction: Language ideology as a field of inquiry. In B. Schieffelin, K. Woolard, & P. Kroskrity (Eds.), Language ideologies: Practice and theory (pp. 3–47). Oxford University Press. Zentella, A. C. (1995). The “chiquitafication” of U.S. Latinos and their languages, or why we need an anthropolitical linguistics. In SALSA III: Proceedings of the 3rd annual symposium about language and society (pp. 1–18). University of Texas.

2 SOY PUERTORRIQUEÑA, PUNTO María’s Journey of Constructing Her Identity as a Female Puerto Rican Producer and Journalist in the Southwestern United States

María invites me back to the production room, where I  will be able to observe everything happening on camera and behind the scenes. She was wearing some badass light-colored jeans with motorcycle boots and a black one-sleeved shirt. As we were walking back, I again complimented her outfit, telling her that she looked “rebelde,” to which she replied, “rebelde, pero professional (rebellious but professional).” Her outfit exuded as much confidence as she did assuming the role of producer. I could tell she was really in her element – making decisive choices without hesitation. The production room is impressive, with six big screen TVs and what seemed like a million buttons. She seamlessly switches between English with the tech team and Spanish with the Phoenix Reportaje crew – and engages in translanguaging with Penélope, which, at this point, I  have come to understand is very much a part of María’s “idiolecto” (idiolect). (Fieldnote, 03–28–18)

Introduction

While getting to know María, I  came to envision her as a swanky young woman who loved to dance and express herself through her fashion and linguistic choices. Born and raised in Puerto Rico, she always connected deeply to her first language (Spanish) and culture. Although she never had the desire to leave her island, it was always expected by her family and the larger society that she would. She grew up surrounded by the ideology that “lo americano es mejor” (American is better). If she wanted to be successful, she would have to head to the “mainland.” María eventually moved to Arizona to study film at Southwestern University, as she felt this industry was not as strongly developed in Puerto Rican universities. After realizing that film was not the DOI: 10.4324/9781003257141-2

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path she wanted to take, she switched to a major in broadcast at the School of Journalism, where she would focus mainly on production while simultaneously developing pertinent skills for a potential career in reporting. Due to her geographical location within the Southwest, most Spanish-speaking community members were of Mexican origin and had acquired a United States (U.S.) Spanish variation. Despite making meaningful connections to this group, being far away from her own speech community, and participating in a gender-biased industry, María experienced dilemmas in negotiating both her personal and professional identities. In this chapter, I  focus on María’s journey, examining the experiences that her professional internship afforded her and how she harnessed these experiences to engage in linguistic- and ethnic-related identity work that transcended the goals of the Spanish for specific purposes (SSP) program. Specifically, while engaging in her internship, María’s identity work focused on using language and extralinguistic elements to negotiate a position as a female Puerto Rican producer and journalist in the Southwestern U.S. I harness language ideologies to study three important themes that represent the type of identity work she did across discursive events: (i) claiming her puertorriqueñidad in broadcast, (ii) linguistic proficiency and commitment to an academic standard variety, and (iii) maintaining her authentic self within a gender-biased professional environment. Narration of María’s Positionality as a Nonlocal Native Speaker: Colonization, Translanguaging, and Language Ideologies

Before we discover the identity work in which María engaged, we must first define language ideologies in the context where she grew up and discuss her positionality as a nonlocal native speaker (NS) in her new speech community. María comes from Puerto Rico, an “unincorporated territory” of the United States. Due to the turbulent and colonial relationship between the U.S. and Puerto Rico, the imposition of English on the island has led to translanguaging practices and a macro-level classification as a bilingual territory. However, this linguistic imposition has become a catalyst for the development of explicit and implicit hegemonic language ideologies regarding English and Spanish on the island. But what are language ideologies? Silverstein (1979) is often credited with pioneering the construct of ­language ideologies, defining them as “any sets of beliefs about language articulated by the users as a rationalization or justification of perceived language structure and use” (p. 193). Since this time, other scholars have re-conceptualized the term to focus on different relational dimensions. For example, Irvine (1989) highlighted the sociocultural nature of the term by defining language ideologies as “the cultural system of ideas about social and linguistic relationships, together with their loading of moral and political interests” (p. 253). In this

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same vein, Woolard and Schieffelin (1994) also focused on the social significance of this construct by explaining that language ideologies “envision and enact links of language to group and personal identity to aesthetics, to morality, and to epistemology. Through such linkages, they often underpin fundamental social institutions” (pp. 55–56). More recently, Leeman (2012) has focused on ideologies and heritage language (HL) pedagogy to illustrate the complex interplay between minoritized/ stigmatized languages and society. She has described that language ideologies mediate between language and broader social structures, and they are intertwined with ideologies about other social phenomena – such as gender, socioeconomic status, race, and nation – as well as with beliefs about the people who speak given languages or varieties or who engage in specific language practices. (p. 43) The imposition of the English language in Puerto Rico by the U.S. catalyzed the development of explicit and implicit hegemonic language ideologies that continue to interact with the social phenomena Leeman (2012) cited (e.g., nation, socioeconomic status). One of the many language ideologies pertinent to María’s experience is that English is often privileged as the (global) language of science and academia at post-secondary institutions (Carroll & Mazak, 2017) in Puerto Rico. As described previously, these hegemonic language ideologies were part of why María was expected to leave Puerto Rico and pursue her post-secondary education on the mainland. Moving from Puerto Rico to Arizona, María left one speech community marked by language contact and language ideologies and entered a very different one. Upon entering this different speech community, María felt a sense of disconnection. Although she would often travel to parts of the city where the linguistic landscape reflected a Spanish-speaking community, the artifacts in her surroundings did not reflect her community. Rather, many of these spaces reflected the linguistic variations and cultural customs of a predominately Mexican community. In addition, Spanish speakers in the Metro Phoenix area often had difficulty understanding her Puerto Rican variety and vice versa. The disconnect and differences in linguistic variation were also present in her professional experiences, both on- and off-camera. As a producer, she worked as an integral team member in the creation of the televised newscasts and Facebook Live shows for the Phoenix Reportaje. Even though her preference was producing, she was not going to “limit” herself to this one possibility. Therefore, toward the end of her time at Southwestern University, she began seeking opportunities to take on a dual role as a reporter. In addition to feeling like an outsider of the dominant speech community, when putting

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together her digital news stories (packages), she felt the pressure from the industry to neutralize her identity by suppressing her Puerto Rican variety. Claiming Her Puertorriqueñidad in Broadcast

María, like all students completing the SSP minor at Southwestern University, had been exposed to the topic of variation of the Spanish language via a required course entitled Spanish in U.S. professional communities. This course presented an in-depth exploration of Spanish varieties in the U.S., emphasizing the varieties of Cuban, Mexican, and Puerto Rican communities on the mainland. While carrying out her SSP internship, María would be required to confront a different kind of variation: the mythical “neutral” variety that marked the Spanish-language mass media market in the United States. Accent and Delivery

The hegemonic belief that a neutral variety of Spanish (i) exists and (ii) should be the industry “standard” has been present in mass media throughout both Latin America and the U.S. since the middle of the 20th century (Jarvinen, 2012; Valencia  & Lynch, 2016). Through this standard, “se intenta forjar una lengua sin carácter regional o local que transcienda las fronteras e identidades nacionales en el plano perceptual, hacienda familiar algo es, en esencia, necesariamente ajeno” (Valencia & Lynch, 2016, p. 178) or “an attempt is made to forge a language without regional or local character that transcends the borders and national identities on a perceptual level, making familiar something that, in its essence, is inherently foreign” (my translation). One justification for the presence of this language ideology in mass media outlets in the U.S. derives from the linguistic diversity present in the newsroom (Valenia  & Lynch, 2016). To “forge a language without regional or local character,” reporters from all different parts of Latin America are encouraged to neutralize their varieties to create a universal standard that all viewers can understand. Yet, Mexican variations have always been maintained in mass media in the U.S. and the entertainment field in Latin America, unlike others, which have been censured to conform to this ideal neutral standard. Through its popular telenovelas and dubbed television shows, Mexico became a bridge between U.S. media products and Latin America (El Halli Obeid, 2012). As such, some industry members perceive that this neutral standard is equivalent or mirrors many of the features of a Mexican variation, whereas others feel a Mexican standard is completely distinct (Artman, 2015; Valencia & Lynch, 2016). Given that Univision, the network through which the televised newscast of the Phoenix Reportaje was broadcast, is one of the national networks noted as embracing the use of a neutral standard (Valencia & Lynch, 2016),

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it is not surprising that María felt pressured to assimilate her Puerto Rican variety to this ubiquitous standard. During our last interview, María spoke to me regarding the institutional pressure to adopt a neutral standard variety of Spanish that dominated the national landscape and her internship site. Following up on this topic, I asked her if she felt she could maintain her puertorriqueñidad through a specific discursive feature, her accent. She was very decisive in her answer: she will always maintain her accent. Interview, 04–27–18 I maintain my accent, end of story. María: Yo mantengo mi acento y punto. And it’s not an issue of accent when Y no es tema de acento cuando it has to do with reporting. Because se trata del reporting . . . Porque it’s delivery, like how you are going es delivery, como tú vas a narrar, to narrate something, how you are como tú vas a utilizar tu voz going to use your voice to inform para informar a la audiencia the audience in a clear manner. It’s claramente. Eso no es tanto el not so much the accent; rather, you acento, sino hay que tomar en have to take into consideration consideración que nosotros, por that we, for example, can speak ejemplo, podemos hablar muy really quickly sometimes. We don’t rápido a veces. No pronunciamos pronounce the r or the s. And when la r, ni la s. Y a la hora de uno it’s time to inform, you have to do it informar, hay que hacerlo bien. well. And that’s where my professor Y ahí mi profesora me lo está is telling me, “It’s not the accent, it diciendo, “No es el acento, es que has to be clear. Always keep that in sea claridad. Siempre tengan eso mind, it has to be clear.” en mente, que sea claridad.”

In this excerpt, María implicitly described the linguistic ideologies regarding a neutral Spanish variety present in the industry, which framed certain stigmatized linguistic features as interrupting the audience’s comprehension. Such linguistic discrimination was similar to what one of María’s mentors, the newscast supervisor of the Borderland’s beat at the Phoenix Report, had experienced while working as an English-language broadcaster in the Southwest. This supervisor had been born in the U.S. and was of Hispanic/Latinx descent. While working in broadcast, they received criticism from viewers for remaining loyal to the phonetic pronunciation of words like Guadalupe and Nogales in Spanish. Despite such critiques, they continued to honor their bilingualism through translanguaging during broadcasts. Ideological Construction Process

Whereas the newscast supervisor’s use of Spanish during English-language broadcasts was framed as impeding viewers’ comprehension, certain

Soy Puertorriqueña, Punto  49

FIGURE 2.1 Semiotic

Processes in the Ideological Construction Process (Adapted from Irvine & Gal, 2000, pp. 37–38)

linguistic features of María’s Puerto Rican variety (e.g., rate of speech, elision, velarization) were framed as problematic for the comprehension of a Spanish-speaking audience. As such, María felt pressured to conform to this neutral standard by erasing these linguistic markers of her Puerto Rican identity. Erasure is an important part of how interlocutors “construct ideological representations of linguistic differences” (Irvine & Gal, 2000, p. 37) as part of what is known as the ideological construction process. Specifically, it is one of the three semiotic processes in Irvine and Gal’s (2000) model to tease apart the ideological construction process (see Figure 2.1). This model explains how language ideologies establish boundaries and differences between languages – even as an individual forms a set of beliefs regarding speakers of particular languages: As part of everyday behavior, the use of a linguistic form can become a pointer to (index of) the social identities and the typical activities of speakers. But speakers (and hearers) often notice, rationalize, and justify such linguistic indices, thereby creating linguistic ideologies that purport to explain the source and meaning of the linguistic differences. (Irvine & Gal, 2000, p. 37) In María’s case, utilizing linguistic features of her Puerto Rican variety (e.g., rate of speech, elision, velarization) indexed her social identity as an outsider of the predominately Mexican community. To thwart the social identity assigned to her by viewers and the supposed issues of comprehensibility her variation posed, she considered erasing the marked features of her variation. However, throughout her internship, she came to reject this belief and clarified that audience comprehension was not about a speaker’s accent per se. Contrastingly, comprehension was related to the discursive strategies reporters implement while on camera to clearly transmit information to their viewers. With this in mind, María ultimately decided that she would

50  Soy Puertorriqueña, Punto

maintain her Spanish variety and, in doing so, position herself as a Puerto Rican journalist across professional storylines. “Punto.” To better understand how María grappled with these intuitional pressures, I reached out to her via text message and asked how she conceptualized the phenomenon of “accent.” In defining “accent,” María offered two related focuses. Whereas the first referred to the linguistic features of her speech, the second pointed to the role that her discursive choices played in fighting against institutional language ideologies to construct her professional identity. Such a reflection supports the poststructuralist idea that identity “is a shared social achievement, negotiated, or perhaps battled over, through language and interaction” (Bernstein, 2014, p. 4). Member Check Text Message, 08–23–18 María:

Mira yo defino mi acento de dos formas. 1 – lo literal, hablar rápido, no pronunciar s’ ni las l y hablar cantaíto y 2 – pues es mi identidad. Es forma de mi forma de comunicación y al poder expresarme en español y en mi acento, puedo ­comunicarme 100[%] con mas [sic] claridad. Cuando se trata del periodismo es diferente porque estamos hablando de narrar un “track” que viene siendo ­grabando leyendo un guión, pero por ejemplo cuando nos toca estar en vivo, tener en mente “tengo que pronunciar las s y las r” interviene con el “delivery” y al fin y acabo con la informacion [sic] y la ­precision [sic] y certeza de lo que informo [al público].

Look, I define my accent in two ways. 1 – the literal aspects, speaking quickly, not ­pronouncing s’ or the l, and speaking cantaíto, and 2 – well, it’s my identity. It’s part of my form of communication, and upon being able to express myself in Spanish and in my accent, I can communicate 100[%] with more clarity. When it’s regarding journalism, it’s different because we are talking about narrating a “track” that is being filmed while reading a script, but for example, when we have to report live, ­having in mind “I have to pronounce the s’ and the r’s” intervenes with the “delivery” and after all with the information and the precision and the certainty with which I inform [the audience].

María again noted the pressure she felt to erase various linguistic features of her Puerto Rican variety to conform with the neutral Spanish variety encouraged in mass media. Although she initially internalized this pressure that manifested during her broadcast duties as internal, private reminders to eradicate the markers of her identity (“tengo que pronunciar las s y las r”) also manifested. Over time, María realized that her attempts at erasure affected her ability to position herself both as a Puerto Rican journalist and a journalist who could successfully communicate her message to the audience. Ultimately, María’s efforts to conform to industry

Soy Puertorriqueña, Punto  51

norms by changing her accent “intervened” with her actual ability to inform her audience. By focusing on stripping her identity, her “delivery” was negatively affected. By channeling her energy into changing her speech, she neglected other aspects of her performance (e.g., processing and responding to interlocutors’ responses), resulting in what she considered a low-quality product that was not representative of her as a professional journalist. Language Ideologies Connected to a Puerto Rican Spanish Variety

Even though by the end of her internship she had committed to maintaining her puertorriqueñidad, reaching this decision had been a process, shedding light on the fact that language ideologies are not static. During this same post-interview, María recounted another example of the internal conflict she felt while carrying out her SSP internship. This time, it occurred while reporting for one of the Facebook Live shows at the Phoenix Reportaje. She again felt pressured to erase particular linguistic features that marked her Puerto Rican identity to assimilate to the neutral standard variety of the journalism industry. Interview, 04–27–18 María:

Me di cuenta que este semestre que hice en el Reportaje, era una presentación para el show de Facebook, siempre que miraba para atrás y yo digo, “Estoy presentando, pero no me escucho como yo.” Se siente esa presión de que me tengo que asimilar a lo neutral, pero cuando yo lo hago, yo digo, “No, no se ve natural. Es neutral, pero se ve forzado.” Me acuerdo que cuando está grabando tal video, tenía en la mente, “Así es que se escucha. No te escuchas muy boricua.” He estado observando, viendo a otros reporteros que sí hay una forma de hacerlo. Es averiguar cómo. Estoy aprendiendo, pero es esa presión de mientras uno está leyendo el prompter, “Okay. Tienes que leer la s. La r. Conversacional. Que no se te salga lo de jíbara.1 Que no se te salga lo de cafre.” Así es que se expresa la presión.

I realized the semester that I did the Reportaje, it was a production for the Facebook show, I was always looking back and I said, “I’m reporting, but I don’t sound like myself.” You feel this pressure to assimilate to a neutral variety, but when I do it, I say, “No, this doesn’t seem natural. It’s neutral, but it seems forced.” I remember when I was recording some video, what stayed in my mind was, “That’s how you sound. You don’t sound very Puerto Rican.” I’ve been observing, looking at other reporters to see if there is a way to do it. It’s figuring out how. I’m learning, but that pressure when you’re reading the prompter, “Okay, you have to read the s. The r. Conversational. Don’t let the jíbara out. Don’t let the ghetto out.” That’s how the pressure is.

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María’s reflection demonstrates how language ideologies can change. Whereas at the beginning of the semester, she considered erasing aspects of her variation to stay loyal to the neutral Spanish variation in the media, toward the end, she realized that in doing so, she was losing herself. She was losing her puertorriqueñidad. Although the pressure to neutralize her variation remained, María’s willingness to do so was shifting. Like many Puerto Ricans, María’s variety of Spanish included various stigmatized features that are often considered “non-standard.” Examples include the incorporation of translanguaging or “code-switching” (Hill, 1998), frequent subject expression (Flores-Ferrán, 2004; Hochberg, 1986), /s/ elision and/or aspiration (Hochberg, 1986; Lafford, 1982) velarization of /n/ to [ŋ] (Boomershine, 2006), velarization of /rr/ to [x] (Holmquist, 2003; Lipski, 1994), and lateralization of /r/ to [l] (Lipski, 1994), among others. In the previous passage, María referred to four distinct language ideologies while recounting her thought process while filming a Facebook Live show for the Phoenix Reportaje earlier in the semester. Elision and/or Aspiration of /s/ (“Tienes que leer la s”)

The first language ideology to which María referred implicitly was the elision of /s/ to [θ] and/or the aspiration of /s/ to [h] when she reminded herself, “Tienes que leer la s:”

(2.1)  Examples of elision (a) and aspiration (b) of /s/ a. las niñas

[ˈlaθˈniɲaθ]

“standard” [ˈlasˈniɲas]

b. las niñas

[ˈlahˈniɲah]

“standard” [ˈlasˈniɲas]

Both elision and aspiration of /s/ are common occurrences across all ages and socioeconomic classes in Puerto Rico (Lipski, 1994). Outside of the island, however, these processes have undergone iconization, or “transformation of the sign relationship between linguistic features (or varieties) and the social images with which they are linked” (Irvine & Gal, 2000, p. 7), as they are commonly associated with the stereotyped image of a “laid back” Puerto Rican Spanish speaker. In contrast to its unmarked status in Puerto Rican Spanish, aspiration is considered an indicator of membership to higher socioeconomic classes in other Spanish-speaking regions, such as on the Uruguayan–Brazilian border (Carvalho, 2006) and Maracaibo and Caracas in Venezuela (Carreira, 2000). Despite the rather positive socioindexicality in these Spanish-speaking

Soy Puertorriqueña, Punto  53

societies, both elision and aspiration of /s/ are considered to be stigmatized and unacceptable within the “neutralized” Spanish variety that dominates the Spanish-language mass media industry throughout the U.S. and the Phoenix Reportaje in Arizona. At one point during her SSP internship, María felt pressured to adjust her language in an attempt to take on the position of the “ideal” Spanish-speaking reporter. Specifically, she felt the push to suppress her Puerto Rican variety by pronouncing the /s/ instead of eliminating or aspirating it. Lateralization of /r/ to [l] (“Tienes que leer . . . La r”)

A second language ideology to which María referred with her comment, “Tienes que leer . . . La r,” is the lateralization of /r/ to [l]:

(2.2)  Example of lateralization of /r/ to [l] a. puerco

[ˈpwelko]

“standard” [ˈpwerko]

Despite being an iconized characteristic throughout the island of Puerto Rico, lateralization of /r/ to [l] is considered a stigmatized feature within the larger Spanish-speaking world. Specifically, the socioindexical value of this process is typically connected to lower socioeconomic classes (Lipski, 1994). Therefore, it is logical that this phonological process was not considered prestigious within the neutral language variety reinforced in the Spanishlanguage market. As such, María again felt the pressure to omit this from her own linguistic variety to mirror more closely the discourse of the type of Spanish-speaking broadcasters prototypic within the U.S. mass media. Lo de jíbara

The last two language ideologies that María mentioned are those present within the island itself. Specifically, these are ideologies many Puerto Ricans hold that refer to phonological and lexical features associated negatively with stigmatized groups of people on the island. The first of the two groups is los jíbaros, as illustrated through María’s internal dialogue, “Que no se te salga lo de jíbara.” Jíbaro/a/x refers to individuals from the mountainous or farming regions of Puerto Rico who are often stigmatized for their traditional and agricultural way of life and are typically juxtaposed against those living in the metropolitan areas of the island. A  common saying that illustrates this discriminatory juxtaposition is “Un jíbaro pertenece a la isla” (A jíbaro belongs to the island). In this case, “la isla” (the island) refers to those regions outside the metropolitan areas.

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El frenillo

A specific phonological feature that is both a marker and “sociolinguistic stereotype” of los jíbaros is the velarized /rr/ (Holmquist, 2003). This phonological process, colloquially coined as “el frenillo,” refers to a posterior articulation that “alternates with an alveolar trill and its ‘preaspirated’ (partially devoiced) variant” (Lipski, 1994, p. 333): (2.3)  Example of “el frenillo” (velarized /rr/) a. carro

[ˈkaxo]

“standard” [ˈkaro]

Although some on the island “have adopted it [the velarized /rr/] as the most ‘Puerto Rican’ of all sounds, and use it exclusively, even in the most formal discourse,” this phonological feature is viewed negatively and as “improper” by those in metropolitan areas (Lipski, 1994, p. 334). Lexical Variation

In addition to particular phonological features, lexical variation is another sociolinguistic element that can indicate membership to this rural and agricultural society: (2.4)  Examples of lexical variation: Los jíbaros v. el área metropolitana a. pastelillitos de pollo

variación jíbara

b. empanadillas (de pollo)

variación metropolitana

With these different discursive markers in mind, María reported that, at one point, she was consciously suppressing any traces of a jíbaro/a/x identity in her professional and on-camera discourse. The goal was to more effectively take on the persona of the emblematic broadcaster that is viewed positively within the U.S. Spanish-speaking market. Unfortunately, dichos (sayings) that reflect the discrimination against nonWhite (European) groups of individuals have become mainstream across Latin America and Spain. Such sayings focus on groups such as mestizos,2 indios, and negros: (2.5)  Examples of dichos discriminatorios across Latin America and Spain a. Como sos del indio.

(Colombia)

b. Negro tenía que ser.

(Honduras)

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c. Trabajando como negro para vivir como blanco

(Honduras, Spain)

d. No seas indio.

(Mexico, Venezuela)

In tracing the history and social significance of “the cult of mestizaje” from colonial to present times, it becomes evident, on the ground and in the text, that the privileging of whiteness continued concurrently with the deployment of mestizaje as a national and regional doctrine. Categories such a “indio” and “negro” were still routinely used in pejorative ways, while official ideology declared the worth and occasionally even the superiority of the nonwhite. (Miller, 2004, p. 4) In María’s case, her internal, private reminder while broadcasting, “Que no se te salga lo de jíbara,” reflected how the “privileging of whiteness” and the belief that a metropolitan lifestyle is more progressive and prestigious than agricultural ways of life have influenced the stigmatization of jíbaros in Puerto Rico. Although María may have utilized linguistic features associated with this group in other social contexts, she recognized how the stigma of utilizing these features could influence how others perceived and indexed her. However, as the semester continued, she changed her opinion and embraced her puertorriqueñidad by being loyal to her Puerto Rican variety. Lo de cafre

This same shift occurred with the second of the two stigmatized groups, los cafres, mentioned through María’s internal dialogue, “Que no se te salga lo de cafre.” Various definitions of cafre, a lexical item that can be utilized as a noun and adjective, have been proposed. For example, in 1999, Ramírez introduced the following definition: In Puerto Rico cafre is used to describe anyone who behaves in a manner that is considered vulgar, in bad taste, or scandalous. The word also has a racist connotation because it is mostly applied to black people or those with physical traits considered negroid. (p. 115, emphasis maintained) Years later, in 2010, Arroyo steered away from the racist connotation mentioned by Ramírez (1999) and instead focused on the historical deviance of the term: “Cafre” is a word used in Puerto Rico to describe individuals with no taste in clothing, manners, and style. It came from Andalusian Spanish.

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The word comes from the Arabic Kaffir and it is used in North African countries (mostly Muslim countries) to describe people who happen to be “rejecters” or “infidel” (non-Muslims or converts to Islam) and therefore non-civilized (darker, tribal). (p. 199, emphasis maintained) In addition to the racist connotations and socially deviant nature proposed by Ramírez (1999) and Arroyo (2010), respectively, I have personally heard cafre as a pejorative reference to members of a low socioeconomic class residing in caserios, a colloquial term for subsidized, public housing in Puerto Rico that is reserved for low-income individuals. Furthermore, I’ve often heard cafre associated with the musical genres reggaetón and trap. In this instance, the use of cafre is similar to one of the popular uses of “ghetto” in the U.S. as a “derogatory term used towards individuals who lack the standards of manners and ethics” of higher-class individuals from the dominant culture (Urban Dictionary, 2008). Elements of these genres are typically associated with being urban or underground in terms of fashion and lyrics. Regarding fashion, early artists (e.g., Daddy Yankee, Nicky Jam) wore baggy pants, Timberland boots, and blin blin (bling bling). Their brand-name fashion and expensive jewelry choices demonstrated that they had come from the working class and had “made it” (Solá-Santiago, 2021). Concerning lyrics, artists have used their songs as a space to reflect the reality of working-class Puerto Ricans, like growing up and living in the barrios or caserios. Their lyrics and videos are often perceived as “explicit” or “raunchy” and have been known to showcase women in little clothing dancing “provocatively” (e.g., perreando, twerking). Another popular association of these genres is being from the calle (street) or low socioeconomic groups, leading to negative consequences for certain groups of people. In fact, reggaetón was criminalized in the late 1990s and early 2000s when the government attempted to control the drug traffic and crime wave in the island with constant raids and militarized policing – and pushed the narrative that reggaeton encouraged criminal activity. The persecution also extended to those who looked like reggaetoneros, meaning people who also wore baggy pants and shirts, bedazzled chains, and baseball caps. (Solá-Santiago, 2021, para. 6) Interestingly enough, despite being considered “ghetto,” these genres have culturally permeated the island and can be heard in almost any setting. Furthermore, the commercial success of the reggaetón and trap genres is evident

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worldwide. Building on the work of early artists, present-day artists like “Bad Bunny, J Balvin, Karol G, Myke Towers, Maluma, and Jhay Cortez dominate global streaming charts while singing only in Spanish. Their fashion influence has followed suit” (Solá-Santiago, 2021, para. 13). For example, J Balvin was the first Latinx artist to partner with Nike in 2020 on the Jordan 1 sneaker. Mai/Pai

In addition to their physical characteristics, fashion choices, and location of residency, particular linguistic characteristics mark membership of this social group. One such example is the use of the words “mai” and “pai.” In the Puerto Rican Spanish variety, it is considered “standard” to use the words “mami” and “papi” to refer to one’s mother and father. Having said this, the use of the syncopated lexical items mai and pai are markers of membership to a lower socioeconomic class, often viewed as cafre. Such usage may also serve as a marker of membership to el campo (less populated areas, often agricultural, that are outside of metropolitan areas). (2.6)  Examples of a “cafre” lexical item a. mami

[mai̯ ]

(“standard” [mámi])

b. papi

[pai̯ ]

(“standard” [pápi])

Mami/Papi

Another example derives from the items “mami” and “papi.” As mentioned, it is “standard” in Puerto Rico to use these words to refer to one’s parents. However, based on my experience, when speakers extend these terms to refer to their intimate partner and/or another peer in an affectionate or sexual manner, they can be viewed as cafre. Therefore, although the lexical items are used across all socioeconomic classes, ages, and genders, when the referent changes, these terms become markers of this stigmatized group. As María may have felt as though she, in some ways, embodied certain physical, social, and/or linguistic characteristics of this stigmatized group, she again made a conscious effort at the beginning of her internship to erase any elements that may have signaled a cafre identity. María’s Internal Conflict

The examples given in the previous section are some possible linguistic features that may have crossed María’s mind as she grappled with the

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competing discursive choices that could assist in indexing her positionality during the discursive event of “Broadcasting.” These linguistic choices either conformed to or deviated from the neutral standard variety of the industry. Consequently, she could either adhere to the neutral standard to take up the position of “Ideal Spanish-Speaking Journalist” or reject this variety and claim her puertorriqueñidad. Not only did she live out this conflict via in-the-moment internal dialogue, but she continued to do so as she reviewed the footage and judged her own performance after the fact. While on camera, the ideologically informed pressure to adapt her speech to the neutral standard variety seemed to gain territory, as she mentally reminded herself to pronounce consonants that she typically would aspirate. In these mental reminders, she also directed herself to eliminate linguistic elements that would associate herself with stigmatized social groups within her own Puerto Rican community – lo de jíbara, lo de cafre. Yet, off camera, the desire to maintain her puertorriqueñidad through her discourse came back into focus. A strategy that María implemented to improve her skills was to review the footage of her work. In this instance, she described in our interview, as she reviewed the footage of herself, she felt that she had achieved neutralizing her speech. However, her speech sounded forced, and she could not recognize her own voice. As a consequence of her successful conscious effort to engage in discursive erasure, she did not sound “Puerto Rican.” Upon hearing this “neutral” version of herself, she realized she did not want to compromise her puertorriqueñidad in constructing her identity in professional discourse. María found herself in a double bind with two competing narratives at play: “Stay true to yourself” and “Conform to industry standards to be successful.” She faced difficulties in finding the right resources to confront her double bind and find her voice in the local context of both Southwestern University and Arizona.

María’s Linguistic Self-discovery: Finding Her Voice

In one of our conversations, María shared that being a long way from her island and situated within a predominately Mexican community, she did not have a model or mentor within her vicinity from whom she could seek support regarding the internal conflict of being pressured to assimilate to this particular standard put her at risk of losing her puertorriqueñidad. Even though other reporters came from outside this speech community, their variations (e.g., Cuban, Venezuelan) were too distinct to draw direct linguistic parallels.

Soy Puertorriqueña, Punto  59 Interview, 04–27–18

Here, I was given the opportunity María: Aquí me dieron la oportunidad several times to do some of those varias veces de hacer algunos de projects, some reports. I went to estos proyectos, unos reportajes. do them, and one of my biggest Y salí y una de mis batallas más battles has been finding my own grande ha sido encontrar mi estilo voice because I’m learning in an mi voz porque estoy aprendiendo environment that, in its majoren un ámbito que en su mayoría es ity, is Mexican, with a few South mexicano y unos cuantos sudamerAmericans, Venezuelans, but the icanos, venezolanos, pero el asunto issue is similar. And the Puerto es similar. Y lo puertorriqueño Rican variation is completely difes completamente diferente. Hay ferent. There are some girls here unas cuantas muchachas aquí que that are Puerto Ricans, Cubans, son boricuas, cubanas, como que and I’ve been listening to them, las he estado escuchando, pero es but it’s different. And I’ve realdiferente. Y me he dado cuenta, ized, for example, with the Puerto por ejemplo, con el acento puerRican accent, it really depends torriqueño, realmente depende de on your style. Because there [in tu estilo. Porque allá [en Puerto Puerto Rico] the journalists, even, Rico] los periodistas, incluso, cada each has their own style. They cual tiene su estilo. No se escudon’t sound the same in their chan parecido en el tema de hacer tracks narrating stories. They’ve track de narrar las historias. Me helped me a lot to begin, begin han ayudado mucho en empezar, exploring what is going to be my comenzar a explorar cuál va a ser style as a television reporter, if mi estilo como reportera de telone day I end up being one. evisión, si es que algún día lo soy.

Given her internal conflict, María decided to look to other Puerto Rican professionals in the industry, both on the island and mainland, as a model to see if they had found a way to honor their puertorriqueñidad while positing themselves as successful Spanish-speaking broadcasters. She went beyond the resources offered through the SSP internship and utilized technology as a bridge to connect with professionals in her own speech community. She did so by seeking work from Puerto Rican broadcasters to analyze how they positioned themselves using professional discourse. In doing so, she noticed that there was no formula for their presentational speech, but rather, each reporter had their own unique style. Linguistic Proficiency and Commitment to an Academic Standard Variety

Although María had made the decision to reject the ideological pressure to conform to an industry-driven neutral standard by committing to her

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Puerto Rican variety (with all of its stigmatized features), her journey of constructing an identity as a Puerto Rican producer and journalist in the Southwest continued. Specifically, in rejecting one standard variety, she embraced another. Her exposure to U.S. Spanish varieties common in the Southwest marked by stigmatized features (e.g., arcaísmos, calques, borrowings, codeswitching) different from her own Puerto Rican variety shaped her perception that a high level of linguistic proficiency (in personal and professional contexts) and commitment to an academic standard (void of U.S. Spanish stigmatized features) were markers of a Hispanic/ Latinx identity. Whereas the industry standard represented a “synonym for ‘uniform’ ” in which the principal focus was the privileging of certain phonological features, the standard that María embraced was “more judgmental; it suggests ‘something to aspire to,’ ‘something excellent,’ ‘the best there is,’ or ‘the paradigm case’ ” (Corson, 1994, p. 273). In spite of the ongoing debate regarding the actual existence of a standard variety (see Lippi-Green, 2012; Villa, 1996), this academic standard commonly “has been the variety of an elite upper class with a certain level of formal education, the so-called ‘norma culta,’ of some regions of Latin America (with the Castilian variety now apparently downplayed in this respect)” (Villa, 1996, p. 194). Language Loss and Maintenance in Arizona

Granted that, unlike Petra, María did not directly facilitate any care or services through her internship, her duties at the Phoenix Reportaje still required her to know important social issues that affected the Hispanic/Latinx communities in Arizona and the U.S. For this reason, during our first and final interviews, I  asked María about her beliefs regarding the Hispanic/Latinx community’s access to high-quality care and services in the Metro Phoenix area. She explained that, in her opinion, Spanish-speaking Hispanics/Latinxs did not have the same access to high-quality care and services as Englishspeaking White, non-Hispanics/Latinxs. Despite differences in access, she described that some community professionals did offer services to Spanish speakers but did so via “broken Spanish” (Interview, 02–26–18). Despite such efforts, she felt that one faction of the community, the older Spanish-dominant Hispanics/Latinxs, were still not getting the information they needed regarding the availability of such services. She hypothesized that this was because individuals tended to stay in their own speech communities, isolating themselves. The topics of “broken Spanish” and self-isolation prompted a discussion regarding the maintenance of the Spanish language across generations in Arizona. María shared her view that the maintenance of (a “correct”) Spanish is not appreciated in Arizona.

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Interview, 02–26–18 No sé cuál es la razón, pero no se aprecia mucho el español en el sentido de que si lo hablas – no he conocido muchas personas que tienen el interés de practicarlo. Y ahí es que uno se pone a pensar, “¿Por qué?” Porque, obviamente todo es en inglés y maybe hay algunas personas que nacen y se crían aquí y se sienten más cómodos con el inglés pero no sé si es porque – la comunidad latina es más joven que nada y, como te dije, están en ambas culturas y prefieren el inglés. Pero no veo de la comunidad hispana misma, no veo ese interés de mantener el español. Which is really sad, ¿me entiendes? Esta es una lengua tan rica y te puede abrir tantas oportunidades, porque algo que se cree mucho aquí es que, “Ay, yo hablo español en casa, yo lo entiendo. Sí, yo puedo solicitar un trabajo bilingüe. Sí, yo te puedo –. ” No entiendes – el español hay que mantenerlo, al igual que como mantienes el inglés. Hay una formalidad que seguir y eso me he dado cuenta que hay aquí, no hay ese interés de mejorarlo, de mantenerlo, dentro de la comunidad hispana de por sí.

I don’t know what the reason is, but Spanish isn’t appreciated in the sense that if you speak it – I haven’t met many people that are interested in practicing it. And that’s where you start to think, “Why?” Because, obviously, everything is in English, and maybe there are some people that are born and raised here and feel more comfortable with English, but I don’t know if it’s because – the Latinx community is younger if anything and, as I’ve said, they are in both cultures and prefer to speak English. But I don’t see in the Hispanic community itself, I don’t see an interest in maintaining Spanish. Which is really sad, you get what I mean? It’s such a rich language, and it can open so many opportunities, but something that is believed a lot here is that, “Oh, I speak Spanish at home, and I understand it. Yeah, I can apply for a bilingual job. Yeah, I can –. ” You don’t understand – you have to maintain it, just like how you maintain English. There is a formality you have to follow, and I’ve realized that here, there isn’t that interest in bettering it, in maintaining it, within the Hispanic community.

Sociolinguists have looked to generational immigration as a rationale for language loss and maintenance in the U.S. over time. In describing this phenomenon, scholars take into account the social context and juxtaposition of the HL and dominant language(s) within different spaces to understand these language patterns (Beaudrie et al., 2014; Silva-Corvalán, 1994). While referring implicitly to generational immigration, María only briefly considered that, despite the large presence of Hispanics/Latinxs in the area, the overall linguistic landscape of the Phoenix Metro area is dominated by the English language.

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María, however, did not continue to critically question what underlying social, political, and economic ideologies were behind what she perceived as a “disinterest” in maintaining the Spanish language. Instead, she demonstrated another perceived benefit of being a nonlocal NS of the language. Specifically, she took a privileged position and equated speaking the Spanish language with appreciating the Spanish language. She went on to hypothesize that the loss of the language may have come from the fact that many young people (likely second-, G2, or third-generation, G3, members) were living in between these two cultures. Perhaps María’s own fear of losing her puertorriqueñidad was a catalyst for linking linguistic proficiency as a marker of Hispanic/Latinx identity. Or perhaps, as an NS who had grown up with the privilege of being exposed to the language in a variety of settings (e.g., personal, professional, academic), she did not take into account reasons other than a “disinterest” for which members of the Hispanic/Latinx communities may not have developed a high proficiency in the language. Penélope’s journey in Chapter  4 will illustrate examples of other socially based explanations for language loss. Although Penélope did not grow up in the state of Arizona, where English-only policies exist (e.g., Propositions 106 and 203), and immigration enforcement and racial profiling are encouraged through specific legislation (e.g., Arizona State Bill 1070), she did grow up surrounded by linguistic ideologies and negative ethnic stereotypes that influenced the acquisition of her HL. Not only did she see her Spanish-speaking parents treated differently from English-speakers within the community, but she also internalized the ­negative manner in which Mexicans were portrayed as “lazy” and “apathetic” on a larger social scale within different storylines. Such negative, socially dominant attitudes towards her HL and community influenced Penélope’s decision to reserve the Spanish language for private, at-home use only. Another element of María’s hypothesis can be connected to Penélope’s journey. Specifically, in commenting on individuals who apply for a bilingual job on the basis that they speak Spanish at home and have receptive abilities, María was effectively describing the linguistic profile of HL learners/speakers like Penélope. The assertion that HL learners’ linguistic proficiency and lack of “formality” are insufficient and need to be “bettered” only fosters the false and hegemonic linguistic ideologies these speakers already face. In fact, like Penélope, HL learners/speakers often internalize such negative beliefs, which can result in a fundamental reason as to why they do not maintain the language (Beaudrie et al., 2014). As such, the main goal of HL pedagogy is language maintenance, accompanied by six other goals, which include fostering positive attitudes towards the HL and associated dialects and cultures (Aparicio, 1997; Valdés, 1995). While it is true that certain contexts may require a specific register, the assertion that there exists an assumed, prescriptive “formality” for which HL learners/speakers must “better” their variety echoes those ideologies that

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push for speakers to conform to a non-existent standard. While in reality, depending upon the context in which the hypothetical bilingual job is situated, HL learners/speakers may actually be able to utilize their U.S. Spanish variety to position themselves as insiders of a client’s community. Additionally, depending on the job they are applying for, well-developed receptive abilities may be adequate to carry out professional duties. With this point in mind, it is necessary for SSP programs to consider the tenets of HL pedagogy to provide HL learners with the types of instruction they need to meet their professional goals. In this same vein, these professional programs should also acknowledge the varying negative, ideologically driven beliefs regarding HL learners, including instruction encouraging students to reflect critically on such dominating discourses (Leeman, 2005; Martínez, 2003). Puerto Rican Spanish as a More “Correct” Spanish

In addition to making comments that perpetuated negative attitudes towards HL learners/speakers, María seemed to juxtapose her own Puerto Rican variety as linguistically superior to the U.S. Spanish varieties to which she was exposed in the Metro Phoenix community. In this same interview, María explained how she recently returned from a university trip to Puerto Rico. Upon returning, she had been watching work by Puerto Rican journalists on a daily basis to study how these professionals maintained their Puerto Rican varieties while creating their own journalistic styles. In describing her strategy, María mentioned how it helped her to maintain a “correct” use of Spanish. Interview, 02–26–18 Voy aprendiendo cómo ellos hacen ese delivery, hacen el uso del español en su historia y al igual que su estilo. Porque yo pensé, “Mira, maybe hay alguna forma [de mantener su personalidad], ¿no?” Cada reportero tiene su estilo de delivery. You get what I mean? So, pero para mantener ese tipo de uso correcto de español, eso es lo que yo estaba haciendo – yéndome a Puerto Rico para ver, alimentar, crear mi propio estilo, encontrar cuál es mi estilo.

I’m learning how they deliver, how they use Spanish in their narration, and also in their style. Because I thought, “Look, maybe there is a way [to maintain your personality]. Each reporter has their own style of delivery. You get what I mean? So, but to maintain that correct use of Spanish, that’s what I’ve been doing – going to Puerto Rico to see, to nourish, to create my own style, to find what is my style.

As discussed in the previous sections, María committed to maintaining her puertorriqueñidad via her linguistic choices while engaging in discourse both on and off the camera. However, the anxiety of losing her ethnic identity seemed to foster prestige-based language ideologies that favored her own

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linguistic variety. Through her statement about maintaining a “correct” Spanish, she seemed to position the professional variety spoken within her own speech community as a more “correct” version than what she was being exposed to in the Southwest. Perhaps leaving her own community and returning to the Metro Phoenix community prompted anxiety about losing her puertorriqueñidad due to the neutralizing pressures of the industry, as well as her presence as a nonlocal NS in the Southwest. To prevent this, she maintained her connection to this imagined professional community from her location in Arizona by means of seeking out packages from Puerto Rican reporters digitally. This anxiety-related ideology of a more “correct” Spanish seemed to be reinforced throughout the course of her internship. Towards the end of the semester, the SSP instructor/internship coordinator asked the interns to read an article regarding the future of the Spanish language in the U.S. and record a video response. In her video diary, María again referred to language loss and the idea of a “correct” Spanish in Arizona: Video Diary, Week 13 En términos de mi pasantía, he notado Regarding my internship, I’ve noticed that Spanish in Arizona, without a que el español en Arizona, sin duda doubt, is getting lost with time and with alguna, se va perdiendo con el tiempo each generation. Sometimes when I go y con las generaciones. A veces to interview people, it can be a little cuando salgo a entrevistar a personas, difficult to find Hispanics that speak puede ser un poco difícil encontrar a Spanish, that feel comfortable speaking un hispano que hable español, que se it and furthermore that speak a corsienta cómodo hablándolo y además rect Spanish. I know that a “correct” que hable un español correcto. Sé que Spanish doesn’t really exist, but there no existe realmente un español “corare linguistic and grammatical concepts recto,” pero si hay términos y reglas and rules that should be followed. And lingüistas y gramáticas que se deben I’ve noticed that many times, Latino seguir. Y he notado que muchas veces, political leaders in the state, they are the líderes políticos latinos en el estado, first ones to lack this linguistic knowlson los primeros en tener la falta de edge. That says a lot about the Spanish este conocimiento lingüístico. Eso in Arizona. It’s assumed that, because dice mucho del español en Arizona. “I speak it at home,” or “I speak it with Se asume que, porque “lo hablo en mi my grandparents,” it’s a sufficient level casa,” o “lo hablo con mis abuelos,” of proficiency of Spanish to address sea suficiente español para dirigirme a the Latino community. When really, la comunidad latina. Cuando realin my opinion, that’s not that case. In mente, en mi opinión, no es el caso. my opinion, it’s considered a lack of En mi opinión, es considerado una respect for the rich linguistic system of falta de respeto a la riqueza lingüísour language. I think that if a political tica de nuestro idioma. Pienso que si leader, community leader, or important un líder político, líder comunitario u businessperson is going to adhere to this empresario importante va a adherir a type of rhetoric, they should commit to este tipo de retórica, debe compromusing an appropriate and linguistically eterse al uso apropiado y lingüísticacorrect variety of Spanish. mente correcto del español.

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Although the article centered around the Spanish language within the U.S. in general, María focused her response on the state of the Spanish language in Arizona. When stating she noticed “el español en Arizona, sin duda alguna, se va perdiendo con el tiempo y con las generaciones,” María referred to the concept of language shift. This is a process “whereby the native language spoken by a particular group is abandoned in favor of the language spoken by members of another group as a result of extended contact between them” (Vélez, 2000, p. 6). In referring to this process, she again tied the loss of language within the state to generational immigration. She illustrated her point by citing her experiences while carrying out duties for her SSP internship and courses. For example, when looking for community members to interview, she found it difficult to find Hispanics/Latinxs who both had maintained the language and felt comfortable speaking it in this professional context. Although she did not mention it in this specific video diary, in our other interviews and conversations, she cited her positionality to the community as a potential contributing factor. Specifically, she focused on her status as a nonlocal NS who did not share the local language variety. She related this position as contributing to the fact that many friends and new acquaintances were often self-conscious and hesitant to speak with her as they felt as though she would “judge” their linguistic proficiency. Other elements of her response also signal hegemonic language ideologies regarding an academic standard Spanish variety. In the beginning of her response she stated, “Sé que no existe realmente un español ‘correcto,’ ” only to follow this statement with a long “pero” in which eventually called for the commitment to “[el] uso apropiado y lingüísticamente correcto del español.” The contradiction verbalized in this statement could represent another instance of competing discourses, specifically those to which she was exposed through her communities both at Southwestern University and back home in Puerto Rico. To explain, during our first interview, María recounted that she first began to take Spanish courses at Southwestern University to prevent the attrition of her first language – a decision that, again, could potentially point to the anxiety of losing her puertorriqueñidad via language loss. Situated within a predominately English-speaking society and institution, she stated, “Me di cuenta que al uno hablar en inglés todos los días, incluso el spanglish, se pierde [el español]. Y no quería que, pues, que eso me pasara” (“I realized that upon speaking English every day, including Spanglish, one can lose their Spanish. And I  didn’t want, well, for that to happen to me.”) (Interview, 02–26–18). She signed up for her first Spanish class to combat language loss, choosing an advanced course for HL learners. With the goal of fostering language maintenance, instructors at this university were encouraged to use sociolinguistic-informed teaching methods and critical language pedagogy to support HL learners in the process of validating their own language use (Beaudrie et  al., 2014). In doing so, many

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instructors tackled hegemonic language ideologies by not only “addressing the social and political reasons why certain language varieties and practices have been systematically subordinated, but also [examining] how such subordination has been carried out” (Leeman, 2005, p. 41). Additionally, as will be illustrated through Penélope’s journey, many of the SSP courses addressed issues related to the Hispanic/Latinx communities within the U.S. As such, María was likely conscious of the social justice foundation of these programs that formed a large portion of her coursework. Therefore, by stating, “Sé que no existe realmente un español ‘correcto,’ ” María may have been reproducing the discourse to which she had been exposed in these classes. Yet the words that immediately followed this statement – “pero si hay términos y reglas lingüistas y gramáticas que se deben seguir” – contradicted the idea that a “correct” Spanish does not exist. Instead, this statement reflected a different rhetoric that reinforced the notion of a standard variation that should be held in higher esteem than stigmatized varieties, such as the U.S.Spanish variety commonly found in Arizona and other regions of the Southwest. This ideology that dominated María’s reflection could be linked to her status as an NS of Spanish from Puerto Rico. Within the first 50 years of “acquiring” the island of Puerto Rico, U.S.based colonial administrators attempted to implement educational policies that imposed English as the dominant language to “Americanize” inhabitants of the island. Although English-only legislation was passed successfully, Puerto Rican families and politicians united in solidarity to fight against the attempt to gain control of the islanders through linguistic coercion. Since then, the Spanish language has become a pillar of Puerto Rican identity and a symbol of their unity despite the island’s classification as an unincorporated territory of the United States. To illustrate the importance of language maintenance, “the island is today by and large a monolingual Spanish-speaking society where less than half the population claims the ability even to speak English” (Vélez, 2000, p. 6). Having grown up in Puerto Rico, where Spanish has remained the socially dominant language, María was surrounded by NSs of Spanish in the majority of, if not all, social discourses. Unlike the local Latinx/Hispanic leaders in Arizona then, who she assessed as “lacking” linguistic knowledge of the standard, the leaders in her own community could produce a more “professional” register of the language. In addition to being the socially dominant language of the island, Vélez (2000) explained that Spanish continues to be perceived as an essential element of the island’s identity and political beliefs: But it is no less true that Puerto Ricans today have a healthy sense of their collective identity due in large part to their opposition to misguided American policies. The three major themes of Puerto Rican ideological

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discourse continue to be political status, national identity, and language. Of the three, it has been in the defense of Spanish where islanders have been able to generate what approximates a true consensus. Political correctness at present dictates that Spanish is a nonnegotiable attribute of the Puerto Rican people; even statehood supporters insist that Spanish would continue as the dominant language under that status. (p. 14) Considering the role that language has played and continues to play for Puerto Ricans on the island, it is logical that María would recognize language as an integral component of constructing her own identity and consider a non-standard variety as “una falta de respeto a la riqueza lingüística de nuestro idioma.” In addition to positioning her identity through the use of Spanish and a commitment to an academic standard, María also showed her puertorriqueñidad through extralinguistic elements. She cited her attitude and passion for music, dancing, and fashion, and explained that her puertorriqueñidad was the essence of who she was. Having said this, these features did not always mesh with the norms regarding acceptable professional conduct that dominated the field of journalism, especially when it came to standards for women. Maintaining Her Authentic Self Within a Gender-biased Professional Environment

In addition to contradicting her puertorriqueñidad, standards regarding acceptable professional conduct in the field of journalism often differed for men and women (Chambers et al., 2004). For example, while completing her internship, María experienced prescriptive stereotypes that established “normative expectations for men’s and women’s behavior, resulting in the devaluation and derogation of women who direction or indirectly violate gender norms” (Heilman, 2012, p. 115). Such stereotypes normalize the expectation for males to demonstrate agency characteristics (e.g., assertiveness, dominance, independence, objectivity) and for women to exert communality characteristics (e.g., kindness, obedience, respect, intuition) (see Heilman, 2012 for complete review). “Selling” and “Compromising” a Professional Identity

Subjected to such stereotypes, another central component of her journey was negotiating how to stay true to her authentic self by incorporating extralinguistic characteristics in the workplace while still falling in line with what was considered “professional” for a female in journalism. With her internship

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coming to an end, I  asked María to reflect on this imagined professional identity. She described how she was trying to figure out how to “sell” or “present” herself and the struggle to negotiate her true self within a professional environment. Interview, 04–27–18 I’m trying to figure it out. . . . It’s like I’m trying to figure it out . . . Como que you realize that the time is coming. uno se da cuenta que ya está llegando And professionally and personally, el tiempo. Y dentro de lo profesional I’ve been thinking, “How am I going y lo personal, yo estaba pensando, to sell – ? How am I going to present “¿Cómo voy a vender – ? ¿Cómo yo María?” That’s to say, I’m really voy a presentar a María?” O sea, yo soy Puerto Rican in the sense that I have una persona bien boricua en el sentido a lot of personality, a lot of chaque tengo mucha personalidad, mucho risma to offer. I can be super happy. carisma que aportar. Puedo súper alegre. I love music. I love to dance. I walk Me encanta la música. Me encanta through these hallways, and I’m bailar. Yo camino por estos pasillos y always singing. Sometimes I have my siempre estoy cantando. A veces tengo personality where I’m not in a good mi personalidad de que estoy de mal mood. I don’t want anyone to talk humor. No quiero que me hablen. Es to me. It’s early. Whatever. So as a muy temprano. Whatever. Entonces professional, especially as a student, como profesional, sobre todo como you say, “How do I keep it neutral? estudiante, uno dice, “How do I keep it As a student intern?” But I was neutral? As a student intern?” Pero yo thinking, “Who I am I going to be – estaba pensando, “Who am I going to that person in the newsroom? What be – that person in the newsroom? ¿Qué type of person am I going to be?” tipo de persona voy a ser yo?”

Again, exemplifying that identity is not a static construct but is rather being negotiated constantly within different communities and settings as a “social achievement” (Bernstein, 2014, p. 14), María explained that she was still trying to pin down how she wanted to position herself as an individual, a student, and a producer/reporter. The thread that held together these different identities was, once again, her puertorriqueñidad. In this instance, however, she extended it beyond positionality through discourse to other characteristics of her personality that defied the prescriptive stereotypes for females in her field, such as her love for music and dancing that she would bring into the workplace when singing and dancing in the hallways. Due to the constraints of (gendered) industry ideologies, however, María was conscious that she could not seamlessly merge the two without repercussions. For example, her use of the verb “vender” (to sell) in her false start points to an awareness, at some level, of the neoliberal and global human capital ideologies that exist presently in the United States. Mainly, in order to succeed in such a society, one must “market” or “sell” their attributes to

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the larger global economy (Katznelson & Bernstein, 2017). In thinking about how she would present herself, María recognized that, just as there existed institutional and industrial constraints on her discourse that pushed her to assimilate to a neutral standard, there were also institutional and industrial constraints to “neutralize” the interaction of her gendered personal and professional imagined identities. María went on to explain her struggle between conforming to and resisting these pressures, citing a fellow female news anchor recognized for bringing her “chispa” (spark) to the work place. Interview, 04–27–18 That’s why here I don’t feel like 100% Por eso aquí no me siento like cómoda comfortable. Because I know who 100%. Porque yo sé que yo, en muchas I am, and on many occasions like – ocasiones como que – I compromise. I compromise. I conform, and I limit Me conformo y me limito porque no myself because I don’t want to be too quiero ser too much. Y no ser too much. And not be too much in the much en el sentido que voy a ser yo, sense that I’m going to be myself, but pero uno tiene que reconocer que es you have to recognize that it’s a profesun campo laboral profesional. En uno sional work environment. In one of de los noticieros nacionales hay una the national news networks, there’s a muchacha, ella es excelente. Ella es girl, she is excellent. She is a producer/ productora/reportera. Ella tiene su personalidad, ella tiene su chispa. Y todo el reporter. She has her personality, she has her spark. And everyone recogmundo la reconoce por esa chispa que tiene. Y yo digo, “Yo quiero ser así tam- nizes her for her spark. And I say, bién.” Como traer mi personalidad y no “I want to be like that too.” Like bring my personality and not have to be so tener que ser tan neutral en todo. Pero neutral in everything. But going back, volvemos, no es profesional, so. No sé. it’s not professional, so. I don’t know. Te estoy tratando de aprender todavía, I’m still trying to learn, more or less, más o menos, como profesional quién who I’m going to be as a professional. voy a ser.

In the constant battle between being true to herself and conforming to gendered standards within her internship site and the larger industry, María was aware that she had indeed “compromised” in certain instances. Such compromises had led her to experience discomfort in the professional space itself. Furthermore, she recognized that the compromises she was allowing herself to make through neutralizing her authentic self were limiting her potential as a successful producer/reporter in the Spanish-speaking market. Just as she had looked to the discourse of reporters who she felt connected to her Puerto Rican identity, she sought out a potential role model who she felt had triumphed in a similar battle to the one she was currently experiencing. Specifically, she looked to a strong female figure within a national news network based in Miami, Florida. In María’s opinion, this woman seemed to

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have figured out a way to harmoniously bring the chispa from her personal identity into her professional identity while still finding success within a neoliberal society. In fact, her chispa was a feature for which this professional was most often recognized. In addition to being a role model as a woman in the industry who had been able to resist the pressures of “neutralizing” her personality, she mirrored María’s aspirational career as both a producer and reporter. As previously described in Chapter 1, two elements that attracted María to the journalism world were the adrenaline that she felt while working in this fast-paced field and the opportunity to be creative. In an interview, she described how she preferred working as a producer and experiencing the rush of making in-the-moment decisions behind the scenes. However, she recognized that to compete in a neoliberal market, she would have to market herself as both a producer and a reporter. Taking on this dual role would expose her to more of the industry’s ideologies that focused on how women had to look on camera. Interview, 04–27–18 Mi preferencia es ser productora, estar behind the scenes, estar trabajando. Pero no me voy a limitar a eso . . . Yo quiero, si me dicen pasó tal cosa, poder tener los skills, la habilidad de decir, “Mira. Yo puedo ir.” Porque yo he salido a la calle. Yo sé con quién tengo que hablar. Puedo proyectar. Pero entonces, para hacer eso, uno tiene que verse bien. Como mujer uno tiene que verse bien. Y no bien, súper bien. Y me ha pasado que digo, “Ah, me veo bien.” Y después, viene el supervisor de aquí me dice, “La camisa te quedaba grande,” cosas así. Which, se respeta porque es la imagen del canal, pero dentro de lo personal yo digo, “Pues, this is who I am.” Sí, sobre todo eso, siendo mujer.

My preference is being a producer, being behind the scenes, working. But I’m not going to limit myself to that . . . if they tell me that something happened, I want to be able to have the skills, the ability to be able to say, “Look. I can go.” Because I’ve gone out to the street. I know who I have to speak with. I can project. But, to do that, you have to look good. As a woman, you have to look good. And not good, super good. And it’s happened where I say, “Ah, I look good.” And after, the supervisor here comes and tells me, “That shirt is too big for you,” stuff like that. Which, you respect because it’s the image of the channel, but personally I say, “Well, this is who I am.” Yes, especially that, being a woman.

While describing the process of going out into the community and reporting, María referred to another gendered ideology that females must take into account when “selling” themselves in her industry: physical appearance. She referred to how females may feel as though they are “on display” in journalistic settings and open to judgment in ways that most men are not.

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For example, María explained that if a female aspires to be on camera, the network expects her to represent the station’s image by “looking good.” In embodying this image, female reporters are often expected to conform to ideals of White beauty, especially when on camera. These ideals can manifest as tight clothing (usually dresses), high heels, evident make-up application, and long hair that is noticeably styled. Not to mention, her look should be consistent to facilitate viewer recognition (as will be seen in Petra’s journey). As María pointed out, however, not all women may want to incorporate the characteristics of this industry-sanctioned dress code in their professional identities. Facing this predicament, fashioning her professional identity while trying to stay true to her authentic self continued to be another central step in María’s journey. Through her SSP internship, she had been afforded experiences that both fostered the development of linguistic professional skills that could help her compete within a neoliberal society and exposed her to language- and gender-based ideologies that dominated the industry. In analyzing the storylines and positions of María’s professional experiences, her verbal agility to negotiate different Spanish varieties to index her positionality appeared to go hand-in-hand with the dilemma of wanting to be “professional” without “compromising” herself in a gendered industry. Implications for EX-LL/LSP Pedagogy and Internship Design

The unique ways in which María engaged in identity work that transcended the goals of the SSP program point to implications for experiential language learning (EX-LL)/languages for specific purposes (LSP) pedagogy and internship design. María’s journey specifically highlights the need for programs to (i) prioritize instruction for all language learners/users, including (ii) providing local and nonlocal resources and mentors. It is, of course, important to note that each practitioner, coordinator, and/or administrator should make decisions based on the unique context and needs of both the learners and target communities. Instruction for All Language Learners/Users

Based on María’s journey, it is evident that to support students’ success in EX-LL/LSP-based programs, they must have opportunities to engage in identity work within a supportive space. One way to do this is to include instruction that meets the needs of all language learners and speakers. Even though the majority of language courses at the university level are “mixed classes” (traditionally through indexing learners as second language [L2], HL, or NS) (Oikonomakou et  al., 2018), the dominant teaching methodology of such classes tends to reflect that of second language acquisition (SLA) (Carreira,

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2017). In subscribing to such methodologies, all learners in the classroom are often exposed to grammar-based instruction that, despite presenting information on linguistic variation, supports an academic “standard” variety. Such a practice neglects the needs and goals of other unique learners, such as HLs, nonlocal NSs, and L2s with connections to the target language community, language, and/or culture.3 An example of extending the curriculum to meet the needs of all types of language learners includes incorporating instruction based on the seven goals of HL pedagogy (reviewed in Penélope’s journey in Chapter  4). In doing so, instructors can facilitate learners’ proficiency in a specific professional genre while also providing them with resources and opportunities to validate their HL and make connections to their HL communities, such as the case of Penélope, who worked to overcome her “self-doubt” and connect with her own HL community across transnational fields. Another class of unique learners is nonlocal NSs, like María. Given that these individuals have acquired a variety different than that of the majority speech community in which they currently find themselves, they may face distinct challenges than L2 or HL learners. As with María, these students may encounter difficulties entering and collaborating with the local communities due to a small or non-existent network and differences in variation and culture. Furthermore, in being surrounded by a different linguistic variation, nonlocal NSs may lack the resources necessary to foster a professional image that considers their ethnic/racial identity. To support the needs of these students, programs can build opportunities for nonlocal NSs to bridge their learning and professional goals to include their own speech communities. Local and Nonlocal Mentors and Resources

A first step in connecting students with successful individuals who mirror how they see themselves individually and professionally may include surveying students regarding their professional goals. Based on the results, practitioners can set up a mentee–mentor partnership between the learners and qualified/trained members of the local community based on these goals. If there is not a good fit within the local community, networks could be built with other professionals outside of the physical location of the program, and technology could be utilized for virtual mentee–mentor partnerships. Not only could these mentors act as a model and support system for the student, but they may also be able to expand their professional network. An additional pedagogical practice to support nonlocal NSs would be to use technology-based resources to connect these students virtually to their speech communities. In doing so, an instructor could assist students in locating digital resources that present members of their own speech communities engaging in the type of professional work the learners aspire to pursue.

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Such an intervention could mirror the digital practices that María engaged in on her own. Positioned outside her speech community, María lacked the resources to continue self-fashioning a professional identity as a producer/ reporter that allowed her to represent her puertorriqueñidad. As such, she took the initiative to seek out digital news packages from reporters in Puerto Rico on her own accord to assist her in this process. As these authentic, digital products represented how members of her speech community constructed their professional identities in her field of study, they guided her in making decisions about how she wanted to position herself as a professional and Puerto Rican woman. Takeaways and Points for Continued Reflection

In this chapter, we have discussed María’s journey in engaging in identity work across discursive events related to (i) claiming her puertorriqueñidad in broadcast, (ii) linguistic proficiency and commitment to an academic standard variety, and (iii) maintaining her authentic self within a gender-biased professional environment. The following “Takeaways and Points for Continued Reflection” are offered to help you reflect on your EX-LL/LSP programs and apply information to support language learners and users of all backgrounds and experiences.

Takeaways and Points for Continued Reflection • Do some research and reflection on the dominant language ideologies in your university and community. ○ Have you internalized any of these ideologies? ○ How do any of these ideologies affect you? How have they affected you in the past? • Brainstorm on how you can incorporate your knowledge of language ideologies into the SSP program and your own practice to support students’ identity work. ○ Do your students know what language ideologies are? If not, how can you teach them about language ideologies and how to identify and deconstruct them? ○ What are the dominant language ideologies that your students have come to internalize within their daily lives? How have these ideologies affected them?

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○ What are the dominant language ideologies that they have identified within the space of the university? EX-LL/LSP program? Community internship site? ○ Have any of these ideologies affected, or are they currently affecting, how students construct their identity as bilingual/multilingual professionals in their field? • Does your EX-LL/LSP program offer instruction for all types of language learners and users (i.e., L2, HL, NS, nonlocal NS)? ○ If not, what support or professional training can be provided to faculty to incorporate instruction for all language learners and users? • Does your EX-LL/LSP program offer support for all language learners and users? ○ What type of mentor programs does or could your program implement to support students?

Notes 1 Jíbaro/a/x is a reference to individuals from the mountainous or farming regions of Puerto Rico. 2 Mestizo/a/x describes the “genetic and cultural admixture produced by the encounters or ‘dis-encounters’ (desencuentros) between Europeans, the Africans who accompanied them to and in the New World, indigenous groups, and various others who arrived in the Americas from regions such as Asia” (Miller, 2004, p. 1). 3 As explained in the Preface, the institutional terms based upon the mode of acquisition will be used to index the speaker classification of each intern as an L2 learner, HL learner, or (nonlocal) NS to draw parallels and relate findings to relevant research. In these instances, such classifications do not imply a static positionality.

Reference List Aparicio, F. R. (1997). La enseñanza del español para hispanohablantes y la pedagogía multicultural. In C. Colombi & F. X. Alarcón (Eds.), La enseñanza del español a hispanohablantes: Praxis y teoría (pp. 222–232). Houghton Mifflin. Arroyo, J. (2010). “Roots” or the virtualities of racial imaginaries in Puerto Rico and the diaspora. Latino Studies, 8(2), 195–219. Artman, H. [El Espanol Neutro]. (2015, June  4). The mexicanization of Walter Cronkite Spanish [Video] YouTube. www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjV4z1EsoO4 Beaudrie, S., Ducar, C., & Potowski, K. (2014). Heritage language teaching: Research and practice. McGraw Hill. Bernstein, K. (2014). Learning English as an L2 in pre-K: A practice perspective on identity acquisition [Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of California at Berkeley].

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Boomershine, A. (2006). Perceiving and processing dialectal variation in Spanish: An exemplar theory approach. In T. L. Face & C. A. Klee (Eds.), Selected proceedings of the 8th Hispanic Linguistics Symposium (pp.  58–72). Cascadilla Proceedings Project. Carreira, M. M. (2000). Validating and promoting Spanish in the United States: Lessons from linguistic science. Bilingual Research Journal, 24(4), 423–442. Carreira, M. M. (2017, March). Parameters of variation in mixed classes: Focuses on reactivity to instruction. Paper presented at 6th Annual Hispanic and Lusobrazilian Linguistics Conference. Arizona State University. Carroll, K. S.,  & Mazak, C. M. (2017). Language policy in Puerto Rico’s higher education: Opening the door for translanguaging practices. Anthropology  & ­ ­Education Quarterly, 48(1), 4–22. Carvalho, A. M. (2006). Spanish (s) aspiration as a prestige marker on the UruguayanBrazilian border. Spanish in Context, 3(1), 85–114. Chambers, D., Steiner, L., & Fleming, C. (2004). Women and journalism. Routledge. Corson, D. J. (1994). Minority social groups and nonstandard discourse: Towards a just language policy. Canadian Modern Languages Review/La revue canadienne des langues vivantes, 50, 271–295. El Halli Obeid, L. (2012). La normalidad de Frankenstein: El español neutro y el doblaje. Nexos. www.nexos.com.mx/?p=1493 Flores-Ferrán, N. (2004). Spanish subject personal pronoun use in New York City Puerto Ricans: Can we rest the case of English contact? Language Variation and Change, 16(1), 49–73. Heilman, M. E. (2012). Gender stereotypes and workplace bias. Research in Organizational Behavior, 32, 113–135. Hill, J. H. (1998). Language, race, and White public space. American Anthropologist, 100(3), 680–689. Hochberg, J. G. (1986). Functional compensation for/s/deletion in Puerto Rican Spanish. Language, 62(3), 609–621. Holmquist, J. C. (2003). Coffee farmers, social integration and five phonological features: Regional socio-dialectology in west-central Puerto Rico. In L. Sayahi (Ed.), Selected proceedings of the First workshop on Spanish sociolinguistics (pp. 70–76). Cascadilla Proceedings Project. Irvine, J. T. (1989). When talk isn’t cheap: Language and political economy. American Ethnologist, 16(2), 248–267. Irvine, J. T.,  & Gal, S. (2000). Language ideology and linguistic differentiation. In P. V. Kroskrity (Ed.), Regimes of language: Ideologies, polities, and identities (pp. 35–84). School of American Research Press. Jarvinen, L. (2012). The rise of Spanish-language filmmaking: Out from Hollywood’s shadow, 1929–1939. Rutgers University Press. Katznelson, N., & Bernstein, K. (2017). Rebranding bilingualism: The shifting discourses of language education policy in California’s 2016 election. Linguistics and Education, 40, 11–26. Lafford, B. (1982). Dynamic synchrony in the Spanish of Cartagena, Colombia: The influences of linguistic, stylistic, and social factors on the retention, aspiration, and deletion of syllable and world final /s/ [Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Cornell University]. Leeman, J. (2005). Engaging critical pedagogy: Spanish for native speakers. Foreign Language Annals, 38(1), 35–45.

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Leeman, J. (2012). Investigating language ideologies in Spanish as a heritage language. In S. Beaudrie & M. Fairclough (Eds.), Spanish as a heritage language in the United States: The state of the field (pp. 43–60). Georgetown University Press. Lippi-Green, R. (2012). English with an accent: Language, ideology, and discrimination in the United States. Routledge. Lipski, J. (1994). Latin American Spanish. Longman. Martínez, G. A. (2003). Classroom based dialect awareness in heritage language instruction: A  critical applied linguistic approach. Heritage Language Journal, 1(1), 1–14. Miller, M. G. (2004). Rise and fall of the cosmic race: The cult of mestizaje in Latin America. University of Texas Press. Oikonomakou, M., Aravossitas, T., & Skourtou, E. (2018). Heritage language learners in mixed university classes: Language skills, attitudes, and implications for curriculum development. In P. Trifonas  & T. Aravossitas (Eds.), Handbook of research and practice in heritage language education (pp. 1–39). Springer International Handbooks of Education. Ramírez, R. L. (1999). What it means to be a man: Reflections on Puerto Rican masculinity. Rutgers University Press. Silva-Corvalán, C. (1994). Language contact and change: Spanish in Los Angeles. Oxford University Press. Silverstein, M. (1979). Language structure and linguistic ideology. In P. Clyne, W. F. Hanks, & C. L. Hofbauer (Eds.), The elements: A parasession on linguistic units and levels (pp. 193–248). Chicago Linguistic Society. Solá-Santiago, F. (2021, August 9). From underground to the Runway: Reggaeton’s influence on mass fashion. Refinery29. www.refinery29.com/en-us/2021/08/ 10620225/reggaeton-fashion-influence Urban Dictionary. (2008, July 31). Ghetto. www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term= ghetto Valdés, G. (1995). The teaching of minority languages as ‘foreign; languages: Pedagogical and theoretical challenges. Modern Language Journal, 79(3), 299–328. Valencia, M., & Lynch, A. (2016). Migraciones mediáticas: La translocación del español en televisoras hispanas de Estados Unidos. Cuadernos AISPI, 8, 171–196. Vélez, A. J. (2000). Understanding Spanish-language maintenance in Puerto Rico: Political will meets the demographic imperative. International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 142, 5–24. Villa, D. J. (1996). Choosing a “standard” variety of Spanish for the instruction of native Spanish speakers in the U.S. Foreign Language Annals, 29(2), 191–200. Woolard, K., & Schieffelin, B. (1994). Language ideology. Annual Review of Anthropology, 23, 55–82.

3 DON’T WORRY, BE NAPPY Petra’s Journey of Positioning Her Identity as a Legitimate and Authentically Multilingual/ Multidialectal Speaker Across Racial Boundaries

Although Petra usually gets to her internship at about 8am, we had planned to arrive earlier (around 7:40am) so that we would have a little bit of time to speak about how the morning would go, look at the schedule for patients, etc. Of course, even that early in the morning, there was a stream of cars on the interstate, increasing my ETA from what I  had predicted to be 7:30am to 7:40am. Worried that I was going to arrive late, I  was relieved when I  received a text from Petra stating, “Buenos días, Lexi! I’ll be there a little after 7:40. . . . This traffic is a mess. I’m sorry!” I texted back, and we set a plan to meet in the volunteer parking lot and walk in together. I saw her zoom into the parking lot with a cute and sporty vehicle, rocking what she calls her “natural fro.” As Fridays are a bit more casual, she sported her signature gold necklace with the name “Oprah” in a scroll font, a navy dress, a patterned kimono, and orange sandals. We greeted each other with a hug and a joke about the traffic. I followed her into the main lobby, where we saw a room full of volunteers with wide smiles and matching red shirts. After she entered a code onto the lobby touch screen, she led me through what seemed like a labyrinth to get to the community clinic. (Fieldnote, 03–23–18)

Introduction

While getting to know Petra, I came to see her as a passionate young woman who could bring warmth to even the most fluorescently lit spaces with her vibrant energy and “extra” personality. This charisma helped her create relationships with her fellow missionaries and the local community during the 18 DOI: 10.4324/9781003257141-3

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months she spent abroad in Ecuador for a religious mission. At the time of this immersive sojourn, her linguistic self-confidence was at an all-time high. Returning stateside and leaving this immersive environment would prove difficult. Being back in a “virtual” classroom at the university contributed to a growing disinterest in learning and using the language. When it came time to complete an internship for her Spanish for specific purposes (SSP) minor, logistical issues prevented her from being positioned at a community site in her chosen field of journalism. Instead, she pursued an internship as a medical interpreter at a community clinic in the Metro Phoenix area dedicated to providing medical care for primarily low-income, uninsured, and undocumented individuals. In this chapter, I focus on Petra’s journey, examining the experiences that her professional internship afforded her and how she harnessed these experiences to engage in linguistic-, ethnic-, and racial-based identity work that transcended the goals of the SSP program. Throughout this journey, she utilized language to position herself as both a legitimate and authentically multilingual/multidialectal speaker across racial boundaries while interacting with different community members inside and outside of the internship. Specifically, her role as a medical interpreter/scribe1 presented her with situations of linguistic discomfort in which she implemented interactional strategies to maintain her positionality as a legitimate speaker of Spanish during situations of linguistic discomfort. Outside of this internship, however, Petra utilized different varieties of English/Spanish and corporeal expression to construct an identity that represented the various racial and ethnic groups with which she identified – even though these choices were often racialized by other social actors. With this in mind, building on language ideologies, I  utilize positioning theory to study three important themes that represent the type of identity work she did across discursive events: (i) self-protection in situations of linguistic discomfort, (ii) language as a vehicle for interpersonal connection, and (iii) corporeal resistance in (White) European dominated societies. Narration of Petra’s Authentically Multilingual/Multidialectal Self

Let us begin by learning a bit about Petra as an authentically multilingual/ multidialectal individual and define positioning theory within the context of her journey. An authentically multilingual/multidialectal self is at the heart of who Petra imagined herself to be. In addition to speaking both Spanish and English, she proudly described her ability to move between different dialects: “standard” English, Ebonics, “standard Spanish,” and a stigmatized variety of Spanish she had learned while living in Ecuador. Having said this, the motives for moving between these dialects were not always

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desirable. Furthermore, as a biracial woman who had previously lived in a Spanish-speaking country, Petra also viewed herself as a multicultural individual. Professionally, she perceived herself as a “female empowered journalist, sometimes bilingual” (Interview, 04–21–18). Her ethnic ties to both the Black and White communities in the U.S. helped her see stories from multiple lenses, or what she calls the “Black side” and the “White side.” Although unsure if she wanted to pursue a career as a bilingual journalist, the connection with the Spanish language and Hispanic/Latinx communities, both in the U.S. and Ecuador, influenced her daily life. Petra’s language-learning journey began like many other second language (L2) learners, starting with exposure to Spanish in a formal, academic setting during high school. Shortly after commencing her studies at the university, she felt called to complete an 18-month mission through her church in Guayaquil Sur, Ecuador. Being surrounded by the language and culture(s) coupled with engaging in the language for the specific purpose of serving her church and religion, she felt secure in her linguistic abilities. However, coming home caused a disconnect. Her exposure to the language was minimal, linked primarily to the online Spanish classes she was taking through Southwestern University. Not only were the interpretive and presentational modes of communication limited, but the opportunities for interpersonal communication were constrained to video chats completed through an online platform. Furthermore, the “classroom” communication felt inauthentic to Petra, as these exchanges required the speakers to engage in monolingual Spanish communication to “correctly” use grammatical forms according to the variety of the language taught in the class. This was problematic, as she had come to recognize authentic communication as being multilingual. In these authentic contexts in her life, she could translanguage, using her language(s) as well as other resources (e.g., semiotic repertoire) to achieve the ultimate goal of being understood. Translanguaging as a Tool for Labor and Social Mobility

In fact, while getting to know Petra and observing her at the Phoenix Community Clinic, I noticed that English/Spanish translanguaging made a common appearance in her discourse. When I asked her about the function of translanguaging, she explained that her abilities capture much more than just a simple switch between English and Spanish. Petra explained that, while in some instances, she would employ translanguaging as an expression of her multilingual identity; in others, she translanguaged to meet the expectations of individuals who held hegemonic language ideologies so that they would afford her opportunities to progress in both labor and social spaces.

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Interview, 04–21–18 Petra:

I’m all about it. I feel like that’s how I speak in English too, so that’s how I speak when I speak Spanish and Spanglish too. . . . [Imitates a prestigious tone] I can speak formally and proper if I have to. If I’m at the Report, I can speak how they would like me to speak when I’m on camera. [Returns to her usual tone] But I ain’t about that.

Lexi:

So, your personal or own dialect, we’ll say, is a mixing –

Petra:

Hooked on Ebonics with Oprah. [laughs] There you go. I actually had a friend tell me at church the other day. . . . “It amazes me how you just switch back. You can be speaking like you’re really White, but then you get really ghetto, but then you’ll throw Spanish in there, too, at the same time.”

This passage illustrates how Petra recognized the social power of being bilingual/bidialectal in “standard” English and her own version of “Ebonics,” often referred to as African American Vernacular English. Harnessing this power, she would make conscious decisions regarding her linguistic choices to influence how others perceived her, which would, in many cases, affect the opportunities they would afford her. Petra was aware of how her linguistic choices could affect the positions available to her. To anticipate how interlocutors would position her, Petra looked to the language ideologies held by social actors and dominated within the spaces of interaction. To understand the process in which Petra was engaging more profoundly, we can use positioning theory, which offers an analytic framework to explore how discourse and social interaction enable particular types of identities to be claimed or assigned to others and how this positioning process can sometimes unravel unintentionally. Positioning can be explained through a three-part framework focusing on (i) discourse, (ii) storylines, and (iii) positions. The construction of identities occurs through discourse, which I  operationalize as “language used to do something and mean something, language produced and interpreted in a realworld context” (Cameron, 2001, p. 13). Within these discursive events, there exist different storylines, or “shared understanding[s] of ‘what we are doing, here and now’ ” (Bernstein, 2014, p. 15). Built into these storylines are potential positions that can be taken up and/or assigned to the interlocutors within the discursive act. Although Davies and Harré (1990) centered positioning primarily around conversational discourse, it is important to note that other scholars (e.g., Pavlenko & Blackledge, 2004) have extended this to include all discursive practices. To illustrate the positioning process, consider the scenario Petra described: She is a multiracial and multidialectal student in the School of Journalism

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seeking opportunities to showcase her abilities as a journalist. Within the discursive event of speaking with a Phoenix Report faculty, there are a variety of storylines that the interlocutors could operate, each with different positions available to take up and assign. In speaking with Petra, she described the storyline of “Broadcast Reporting” with two different positions available: Professional Journalist and Ghetto Journalist. (3.1)  Storyline: Broadcast Reporting Position 1

Professional Journalist

Position 2

Ghetto Journalist

To be assigned the position of Professional Journalist and have opportunities to broadcast her work through the Phoenix Report, Petra would need to conform to the language ideologies that embodied the idea of a professional journalist in the context of the School of Journalism. As demonstrated by the discussion regarding the differences between the Phoenix Report and the Phoenix Reportaje described in Chapter  1, one of the language ideologies prevalent in the School of Journalism seemed to be the belief that “standard” English was the dominant variety for the workplace and academia. Such an ideology mirrored the general, dominating belief in the U.S. that “standard” English is a marker of education, success, and membership to the dominant culture. The second position available, Ghetto Journalist, returns us to our discussion of the lexical item “ghetto” from Chapter 2. This term can be used in a derogative manner “towards individuals who lack the standards of manners and ethics” of higher-class individuals from the dominant culture (Urban Dictionary, 2008), such as linguistic varieties that do not fit with their socalled “standard” variety. The term ghetto is typically targeted toward Black or African–American individuals (Urban Dictionary, 2008). As we’ve established, Petra considers Ebonics to be one of her varieties. This variety, however, was discouraged by the School of Journalism as it was considered a deficient, non-prestigious variety of English that was a marker of little to no education and membership of a low-economic social class (Dara Hill, 2009). If she were to utilize this variety, she could be assigned the position of Ghetto Journalist and lose opportunities to advance professionally. In acknowledging this ideology, Petra knew that the positions that authority figures in this institution assigned her would affect her labor and social mobility, or opportunities to move between roles and social strata, within the School of Journalism. She was aware that to have high labor and social mobility in this institution, she would have to shape her discourse in such

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a way that would encourage others to assign her a position as the type of reporter that the School wanted to produce (i.e., Professional Journalist). In other words, educated speakers that belonged to the majority culture. For Petra, this entailed making the conscious choice to engage in erasure. In doing so, she eliminated all traces of Ebonics and instead reflected the “standard” English variety that was preferred at the School of Journalism to prevent the possibility of being assigned the position of Ghetto Journalist. Translanguaging as a Multilingual and Social Practice

Although these language ideologies fomented the need for Petra to strategically adapt her English-language varieties (“standard English” and Ebonics) to increase her labor and social mobility at the School of Journalism, there were other instances in which her status as a multilingual/multidialectal individual was positive. For example, Petra implied that her skills in going between these dialects facilitated her translanguaging in English and Spanish. As a White and Black woman, not only had she learned to utilize language to navigate the social disparities marking these two worlds, but each of these varieties additionally embodied different aspects of her multilingual identity. Therefore, when she learned Spanish, engaging in translanguaging was a natural extension of her already bilingual/bidialectal linguistic repertoire. For this reason, being constrained to utilize an inauthentic, monolingual variety within the Spanish (virtual) classroom created a stressful environment for Petra. Without the opportunity to be totally immersed or utilize the language in a way that fed her passion, self-doubt began to creep back in, which led to anxiety and even avoidance of using the language. She felt pressured to be “grammatical” and soon lost her love for the language. In order to rekindle this passion, she looked for out-of-the-classroom opportunities to have authentic communication that allowed her to express her authentically multilingual/multidialectal self. Her social networks, particularly her Snapchat and Instagram, illustrate an out-of-classroom setting. Each Wednesday, Petra would record and transmit a short, educational segment called Oprah Miercóles, in which she would choose a word of the day (or phrase) in Spanish to teach to her friends, family, and other social media followers. This idea manifested during the time she spent with her bilingual (English/Spanish) friends who worked in the equipment room at the School of Journalism. Every Monday and Wednesday during the semester, she would head to this room to spend time with them and engage in conversations marked by their use of what she calls “Spanglish.” Other students working in the room who did not know how to speak Spanish or had very limited proficiency began to ask them questions, resulting in Petra teaching them a word or phrase of the day. As this continued each week, her Spanishspeaking friends told her, “Let’s just make it your day. And you can just do

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your word of the day every week.” She agreed and, implementing her Oprahinspired entrepreneurial skills, she decided to transmit it vis-à-vis different social media platforms. The lexical item she chose was often inspired by what was going on that week. For example, she chose the verb “graduarse” (to graduate) as the semester was ending and her graduation was coming closer. She further explained that the featured item was often “slang,” as she believed this represented the bulk of her linguistic repertoire in English and Spanish. Implementing one of the many affordances of the platform, she displayed the chosen word or phrase in a band of text, which would stay visible throughout her brief explanation and sample sentence. The transmissions always included her (and other guests) dancing to a Spanish-language song and ended with a live or pre-recorded clip of her friend singing the Oprah Miércoles “jingle.” To illustrate how Petra’s social networks created a space in which she could engage in the type of authentic communication that allowed her to express her authentically multilingual/multidialectal self, I present a segment of Oprah Miércoles: 1 Petra

¡Hola a todos!

Hello everyone!

2

Your palabra del día is “chispa,” meaning spark.

Your word of the day is “spark” . . .

3

Cause everyone’s gotta have a little spark in their life.

4

Okurrrrr! (Instagram Post, 08–15–18)

Within the discursive event of this Oprah Miércoles installment, Petra operationalized an “Educational” storyline in which she took up the position of Legitimate Speaker of Multiple English and Spanish Varieties through the multilingual practice of translanguaging. In Lines 1 through 4, she established this position by seamlessly going “beyond different linguistic structures and systems” (Wei, 2011, p. 1223) to complete her communicative goal of teaching her friends, family, and followers the word “chispa” (spark). Petra utilized another semiotic process involved in the creation and representation of language ideologies to position herself as a Legitimate Speaker of Ebonics that Irvine and Gal (2000) coined iconization, or “a transformation of the sign relationship between linguistic features (or varieties) and the social images with which they are linked” (p. 37). This process can be seen in Line 4, when Petra implemented the lexical item “Okurrrrr” as the sign-off to her

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segment. To understand how Petra harnessed this term to portray a “social image” congruent with the Black and Latinx communities, one must first understand the controversial origins of this lexical item. Petra explained that this colloquialism was reported as first being utilized in drag culture and brought into the spotlight on the television show RuPaul’s Drag Race. Later, it was brought to the mainstream by Khloé Kardashian and the rest of the Kardashian/Jenner family through their reality sitcom, Keeping Up with the Kardashians. More recently, the ubiquity of this colloquialism has been connected to Cardi B, a bilingual female rapper of Dominican and Trinidadian descent born and raised in the Bronx, New York. It is here where iconization comes into play, as Cardi B’s story represents an unlikely rise to stardom. She went from performing as an exotic dancer in New York City, to an Instagram personality, to a reality television star on VH1’s Love and Hip Hop: New York, to a famous rap artist (Miller, 2018). With the release of her hit single, “Bodak Yellow,” Cardi B began to break records as a female rapper (Bristout, 2018). The colloquialism “Okurrrrr” has not only become Cardi B’s catchphrase but is also linked to the social image of a Black woman who has broken into a male-dominated music scene while maintaining her culture and authenticity. Therefore, Petra’s choice to incorporate this lexical item as her own catchphrase on social media both linguistically honored Cardi B’s story and tethered Petra to its social significance within the Black and Hispanic/Latinx communities. Unlike the classroom, where translanguaging is often discouraged (Park, 2013), in her social networks, Petra felt the freedom to implement her knowledge of language ideologies and the multilingual practice of translanguaging to position her identity as a legitimate and authentically multilingual/multidialectal speaker. With the last semester of her university career around the corner, Petra faced a new adventure as she would have to complete an internship situated within the Hispanic/Latinx community in the Metro Phoenix area to complete her SSP minor. As mentioned, she initially planned to complete an internship acting as a translator for a local news station. However, as there was no pre-established relationship with this station, the internship instructor/coordinator informed her it would be considerably time-intensive to create a partnership and internship position before the beginning of the semester. Alternatively, the instructor suggested an internship as a medical interpreter and scribe with a community site with which they had previously worked, the Phoenix Community Clinic. With a thirst for new experiences and her Oprah-like interest in community engagement, she pursued this role, as she believed it would allow her to work with low-income Hispanic/Latinx community members. Despite Petra’s adventurous spirit, the proposal of working as a medical interpreter and scribe was an interesting suggestion as she had never voiced a desire to pursue a career in the medical field, nor did she have any experience in this field other than her personal experiences in

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Ecuador. She greatly appreciated the field, which stemmed from her sister’s occupation as a medical doctor. Yet, the disjuncture between the fields of medicine and journalism and racialized encounters presented her with situations of linguistic discomfort. Self-protection in Situations of Linguistic Discomfort

As Petra completed her internship for the SSP minor, her duties required her to work with Spanish speakers within the local community. As a medical interpreter, she was required to utilize her communicative competence to facilitate interactions between medical doctors and community members seeking medical care. Ecologically, each construct of communicative competence plays an important and often inter-connected role in the success of carrying out these tasks (Gregg & Saha, 2007), which were considered high stakes as the patients’ health is on the line. To illustrate, “In the United States, the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) establishes competencies required of a ‘qualified interpreter.’ These competencies include the knowledge of specialized terminology and interpreter ethics and the skills to interpret accurately, effectively, and impartially” (Basu et al., 2017, p. 247). Although Petra dominated a variety of communicative competence constructs (e.g., pragmatics), she experienced discomfort entering medical interpreting encounters, knowing that she might not have the specialized medical terminology and/or knowledge necessary to be considered a qualified interpreter and carry out successfully the task of interpreting. Situations of Linguistic Discomfort

During our first interview, I asked Petra to tell me about the community site where she was engaging in her internship. After explaining that she was completing two separate internships, one in English and one in Spanish, for the SSP minor, she began to share that she was currently focusing her efforts on the Phoenix Community Clinic: Interview, 02–26–18 Petra: I think I’m just engaging really in getting to know the patients and what their symptoms are. Cause a lot of times we’ll get like the basic stuff, “Oh, you have gripe.” Okay, cool. Like, I know those words, but I’m trying to engage a lot with when they come in with stuff that I’ve never heard of or Spanish words that I don’t know. And then even working with the doctors too, I’m like, “I don’t even know how to spell these words in English. How am I supposed to know them in Spanish?” Like, what? So, I’ve just been really trying to engage with the stuff that I didn’t know before. Which is a lot in the medical field.

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In this statement, Petra explored the connection between her desire to gain exposure to working with patients and her anxiety about working in a medical setting due to the specialized knowledge required. Recognizing her anxiety and discomfort, she would make conscious decisions regarding her linguistic choices to influence both the positions she took up and the others assigned to her in various personal and professional contexts. During her duties, Petra often faced anxiety that she would not have the specialized medical knowledge necessary to take on or be assigned the role of a Competent Medical Interpreter. In my interview with Petra, she shared the challenges she faced while in the exam room that stemmed from the lack of appropriate training. Although Southwestern University offers SSP courses to prepare students to utilize the target language within a medical setting (e.g., Advanced Spanish for Health Care Professionals, Introduction to Spanish/ English Medical Interpretation), Petra did not take these classes. Rather, she took courses that helped prepare her to work in her desired field of journalism (e.g., Spanish Business Correspondence/Communications). Without any preparation specific to the medical field, Petra was often surrounded by medical-based discourse that she could not decipher without outside resources. Without this specialized knowledge, she even experienced difficulties when presented with cognates between the Spanish and English languages. One such example was the lexical item “prueba de Papanicolaou.” Although the more common term in English is pap smear, the standard medical term in English is the same (Papanicolaou test). An individual with medical knowledge may have been able to infer and produce its meaning. However, when this term was mentioned during a patient visit, Petra did not have such knowledge, as medicine was not her career path. In these cases, Petra would rely upon different communicative strategies (see Chapter 5 for an in-depth analysis). During this first interview, she also confided that she felt nervous about speaking Spanish as part of her duties at her internship. At our last interview, I asked her how she felt now that the semester had finished. Even after completing her internship, Petra related her anxiety about utilizing Spanish within her position as a medical interpreter during the discursive event of patient visits. In contrast, she felt more comfortable engaging in more casual discourse in which the topic of discussion did not require her to have medical knowledge. Interview, 04–21–18 Petra:

The same. No, I’m just kidding. *laughs* Not as bad. I just feel way more comfortable when I am having a normal conversation. Like yesterday, I was able to sit with a couple of patients and just talk to them because Dr. O was out doing his thing, disappearing a lot, looking for all kinds of medication and stuff. So I was like, “I’m just going to stay here.” Just being able to talk with them about normal things felt a lot more comfortable, and that’s when I usually felt a lot more comfortable when I’m not having to be like, “What’s this medical word? What’s that medical word?” Google Translating. I do feel better, but always room for improvement.

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The types of low-stakes storylines (e.g., casual conversations with patients) with which Petra felt more comfortable were only possible in certain circumstances when she was afforded the opportunity to shift participant roles. For example, in situations such as before or after a visit or when the provider left the exam room, the storyline immediately shifted from high-stakes (e.g., Medical Interpretation) to low-stakes (e.g., Polite Small Talk) vis-à-vis the patients/family members present. In response, Petra’s position also shifted from Medical Interpreter to Casual Interlocutor, inviting a different type of language use. Having said this, the high-stakes storylines were an inherent feature of her interpreting/scribing role at the community internship site. As these storylines put her identity as a competent multilingual/multidialectal speaker at risk, she utilized interactional strategies to lower her interlocutors’ expectations for her performance as a medical interpreter. Lowering Expectations and Avoiding Situations of Linguistic Discomfort

While at the Phoenix Community Clinic, Petra made purposeful interactional maneuvers to protect her identity as a legitimate, multilingual/multidialectal speaker. One maneuver was to engage in discourse that had the social function of lowering the staff’s and my own expectations of her ability to interpret for the Spanish-speaking patients successfully. For example, during my second observation, I  noted that Petra communicated that she was unsure about how well she would be able to communicate in Spanish as she was very tired. Field note, 04–06–18 Lexi: She [Petra] makes a comment a few times about not knowing “how her Spanish is going to be” this morning because she is so tired. To me, this seems to be almost a way for her to protect herself in the future if she does “falter” in her communication with the patients.

During the final observation, she made a similar comment about running on low sleep that seemed to have the same social function of protecting her identity: Field note, 04–11–18 Lexi:

Walking into the Community Clinic, I asked her how she was doing this morning. She told me that she was tired, adding, “What else is new?” She was having trouble meeting the deadline to submit her Kindness Story for the national foundation dedicated to spreading messages of positivity and kindness. Trying to resolve technical issues while editing her story, she had barely gotten any sleep. She explained that with the crazy semester she has had, she is getting used to waking up – even with 8 hours of sleep – and feeling tired.

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A few weeks later, I brought this up and asked her to explain what she meant by these comments. During this conversation, she referred to the linguistic discomfort she felt during patient visits anchored in medical knowledge she did not have. Interview, 04–21–18 Lexi:

At the observations, sometimes you would say, “My Spanish might not be up to this.” Or we’d go into a room, and you’d be like, “I don’t know how my Spanish was.” Tell me a little bit about what you meant by that.

Petra: Rough. Hashtag rough, that’s what I meant. *laughs* You were never there on the days where they were super specialized doctors because when those super specialized doctors are there, that’s sometimes what I mean by that. There are words. . . . Sometimes you can guess because they’re almost the same translating them. But, no, rough.

In this passage, Petra shared how she especially felt discomfort when working with specialists (e.g., podiatrists), as these cases were often indepth and logically required a level of medical knowledge that was highly specialized. Her desire for others (e.g., staff, patients, myself) to assign her the position of a Competent and Authentic Multilingual in situations of linguistic discomfort seemed to occasion anxiety. Therefore, the interactional strategy she used to protect her imagined identity was prefacing the day with comments that faulted her mental state or planted the seed of linguistic doubt. In turn, she believed those around her would expect her to experience some difficulty or breakdown when interpreting during patient visits. Another strategy Petra utilized to foster self-protection was avoiding situations of linguistic discomfort when possible. To contextualize this theme, when seeking to include the Phoenix Community Clinic as a research site for the current study, I met personally with the medical director to describe my project design and goals. I shared that, in addition to working with Petra, part of my methodology was to interview community members with whom she had worked. These interviews aimed to understand better their opinions regarding the visit and the availability and access to high-quality care and services within the larger community. The medical director (and other staff) were very collaborative. They worked to ensure that I would have access to the types of encounters we had discussed, as the clinic also provided services for English-speaking patients who met the institution’s requirements. During one observation, I noted how the medical director gave me the option to choose which patient visit I wanted to observe.

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Field note, 04–06–18 Lexi:

The medical director asked me which patient I would rather see: an older female with diabetes or an older male with a mass on his eye. I put the question back on Petra and asked her to choose. She chose the female with diabetes because after hearing “mass on the eye,” she said that she knew her Spanish “wouldn’t be up for it.”

This excerpt illustrates how Petra chose to avoid a situation that could have occasioned linguistic discomfort due to her unfamiliarity with the ailment and, consequently, specialized content and language. At this point in the internship, she had already interpreted for a variety of patients who came to the clinic seeking care for diabetes. In fact, I was able to observe a number of these visits. As such, she had been exposed to terminology, interventions, and treatments (e.g., insulin, HgbA1C blood test) common to this chronic illness. On the other hand, the description of the patient with a “mass on the eye,” a situation she had not encountered, alerted her to a possible situation of linguistic discomfort. Instead of taking this authentic opportunity to develop her communicative competence, she avoided the unknown and opted for a situation where she felt more familiar and comfortable. After making the decision, she turned to me and explained that she chose this patient visit as she “knew her Spanish wouldn’t be up for it.” Petra’s linguistic discomfort, stemming from a lack of training regarding medical interpretation, has important implications for languages for specific purposes (LSP) and L2 learners engaging in professional contexts. As previously mentioned, the medical field, like other professional fields, has its own requirements to determine that an individual is linguistically, culturally, and educationally qualified. For language learners to meet these requirements, it is vital that they are given ample opportunities to develop adequately their communicative competence in all areas, as each construct plays an essential and often related role (Gregg & Saha, 2007). This implies requiring learners to take classes specific to their professional field. However, it also involves ensuring that learners who complete internships outside their field, such as Petra, have taken the necessary courses to complete successfully and confidently the tasks required at the target community site. Additionally, these courses need to go beyond focusing solely on the traditionally taught constructs of communicative competence, such as grammatical knowledge, and offer authentic opportunities to develop all areas of communicative competence further. Language as a Vehicle for Interpersonal Communication

Pushing beyond situations of linguistic discomfort within an unfamiliar professional field, Petra did make a purposeful effort to utilize language to develop skills that would foster her identity as a legitimate and authentically

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multilingual/multidialectal professional. These skills were centered around interpersonal communication and relationship building. Conflicts Between Internship and Major

One of the last assignments for the SSP class that accompanied the community internship was a video diary in Spanish in which the interns were asked to reflect upon their experiences. In addition, they filled out a form that guided them through a more in-depth evaluation of the positive and negative aspects of the internship about three main topics: (i) work assignments, (ii) community site culture, and (iii) supervision. In her video diary, Petra shared how completing an internship outside of her field of study caused some disconnect between the required SSP task at hand and her career goals. Video Diary, Week 15 Y bueno, de hablar de esa hoja que tuve llenar [sic] – con las secciones de la primera categoría, no revisé la primera sección aunque dice, “relacionado con mi área de interés.” Porque tengo mucho interés en lo que aprendí durante mi tiempo con la Clínica Comunitaria de Fénix. Pero es diferente a mi carrera profesional del periodismo. Pero todavía aprendí muchísimo. Y bueno, sin embargo, creo que fortaleció [sic] aún más mis habilidades de comunicación tanto en inglés como en español.

And well, speaking of the form that I had to fill out – regarding the sections of the first category, I didn’t check off the first section even though it says, “related to my area of interest.” Because I have a lot of interest in what I learned during my time at the Phoenix Community Clinic. But it’s different than my professional career of journalism. But I still learned a lot. And well, nevertheless, I think that it strengthened my communication ­abilities in both English and Spanish.

Although Petra found the work at the Phoenix Community Clinic engaging and interesting, the duties that she had to fulfill as a medical interpreter and scribe were not related directly to her future career as a journalist. Unlike her classmates, who were tasked with utilizing language to conduct research, visit community sites and activities, make contacts, and interview community members, Petra’s role centered around facilitating communication between providers and patients. Having said this, she recognized that in carrying out her responsibilities, she strengthened her multilingual abilities, which could benefit her future career as a journalist. Communication-based Connections

Although the competence required to carry out medical interpretation was very different from that needed for bilingual journalism, Petra still saw

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that the ability to communicate effectively with a variety of social actors – from colleagues to community members – was vital to a journalist’s success. In the same video diary, she explained how these linguistic abilities went beyond the oral communication stemming from her interpretation duties: Video Diary, Week 15 Debido al tipo de trabajo que quiero hacer como periodista, quiero enfatizar mis habilidades para comunicarme bien con los clientes y mi capacidad para escribir en diferentes estilos. Los dos factores de esa pasantía – bueno afuera de la comunicación y la interpretación, pero también tuve que escribir cada día en los registros de los pacientes. Entonces, tuve la oportunidad cada semana de comunicarme en el idioma diferente también. Eso me ayudó muchísimo mejorar mis habilidades lingüísticas en español y en inglés. Entonces eso fue genial también.

Due to the type of work that I want to do as a journalist, I want to emphasize my ability to communicate well with clients and my capacity to write in different styles. Two factors of this internship – well outside of communication and interpretation, but I also had to write every day in the patient records. So, I also had the opportunity each week to communicate in a different language. This helped me to better my linguistic abilities a lot in Spanish and English. So that was awesome, too.

An additional role that Petra was tasked with was utilizing the electronic medical record (EMR) system to scribe for doctors seeing both English- and Spanish-speaking patients. The specific duties and extent of this role changed depending on the doctors’ preferences and their own status within the clinic. For example, some doctors required Petra to do all scribing with minimal help, others closely supervised her, and some doctors preferred to complete this task themselves. In the case of the medical residents, the medical director required them to take on this role themselves for educational and practical purposes. Petra not only navigated these social hierarchies but also the linguistic hierarchies present at the clinic. Although Spanish speakers constituted a high percentage of the clinic’s patient population, this institution’s dominant language was English. Therefore, the EMR system and all its contents were in English so that all staff could access the information. This also enabled them to share records with other institutions with the patient’s consent. Not only did Petra have to master this new technological artifact, but also the medical vernacular that staff were required to utilize when accessing or inputting information into the EMR system (e.g., bid = twice daily; ETOH  =  alcohol). As such, her role often demanded that she both interpreted and translated simultaneously. Such a task required her to implement

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her translanguaging abilities, moving between languages, language varieties, and communication mediums. Journalists must also utilize their linguistic abilities in diverse situations that include and go beyond oral communication. These professionals must have the flexibility and skill to navigate different languages, language varieties, and communication mediums housed within the social and linguistic hierarchies of a given encounter within and/ or between communities. Based upon her reflection in this video diary, I later asked her what role, if any, her imagined professional identity played in carrying out her duties at her internship. Interview, 04–21–18 Even though we are dealing with a lot of Spanish-speaking and Hispanic patients, we do get Black patients every once in a while. And obviously, their health issues are different, and they pertain to the Black culture. So, I’ve been able to understand from that perspective in the medical view, I guess. You’re just being a journalist, being able to listen to people. It helps, I suppose.

As mentioned, another important element of both Petra’s personal and professional identities was incorporating her authentically multilingual/ multidialectal self. During this reflection, Petra made a connection between her position as a medical interpreter and her interlocutors, who belonged to a community that was influential for her own identity: the Black community. She specifically recognized that a patient’s health (ailments) goes beyond a universal diagnosis but rather is connected to other elements such as culture (e.g., common dietary habits). Therefore, much like a journalist who utilizes their experiences and positionality as members of different communities to understand an individual’s story, Petra felt as though she was able to create relationships with patients from different ethnic and racial communities by employing her linguistic abilities and experiences to navigate between cultures and physical spaces. Hair as a Site of Resistance in (White) European-dominated Societies

Petra not only utilized her language to position herself as an authentically multilingual/multidialectal speaker; rather, she also did so through corporeal expression. Similar to her linguistic varieties, there were times when her corporeal expression went against the “dominating” culture. On many occasions, Petra proudly proclaimed that her “signature accessory” was her

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natural afro. As with many Black women, Petra’s hairstyle had become a cultural artifact that visibly symbolized the connection to her ethnic and racial roots. Or, as Thompson (2009) explains, “for the vast majority of Black women, hair is not just hair; it contains emotive qualities that are linked to one’s lived experience” (p. 831). For others, however, Petra’s fro became a target to question her multicultural identity via racialized attacks. Specifically, these racialized attacks manifested through the discursive process of denaturalization, or when one interlocutor undermines another speaker’s claim to authenticity – relative to some category/categories of identity (Bucholtz  & Hall, 2005). Both inside and outside of Petra’s SSP internship, instances of this denaturalization process occurred in relation to racial shaming, nonconsensual hair treatments, and discrimination, which encouraged Black females to adapt to the ideal of White beauty to engage in social/labor mobility. Through these experiences, Petra was obligated to experience how members of different communities and social positions pushed the hegemonic ideals of White beauty. In experiencing such attacks, she claimed her hair as a site of resistance within (White) European-dominated societies, both inside and outside of the U.S. Phoenix Community Clinic: Racial Shaming as Misguided Solidarity

A particular dimension of Petra’s SSP internship experience surrounded the racializing moves that she had to confront as a Black Spanish speaker in various personal and professional spaces. Having said this, the relations of power that impacted her positionality (e.g., intern at the Phoenix Community Clinic) in these different spaces also directly affected her ability to intervene in these racializing moments. One of the most alarming and impactful experiences that Petra reported having while completing her internship at the Phoenix Community Clinic occurred during an encounter with an individual that she has come to refer to as the “Racist Doctor.” Petra contextualized this interaction by explaining that many of the doctors who volunteered or completed their residency at the clinic were White. Although not the majority, some of these individuals spoke some Spanish or were in the process of learning the language. Nevertheless, the medical director informed me that unless the physician had a high level of proficiency in Spanish, a scribe/medical interpreter was required to be present during the patient visit. One morning, Petra arrived at the clinic and began preparing for her duties as usual. She noticed a doctor with whom she had not previously worked was scheduled. Upon introducing herself, the dermatologist engaged in denaturalization to question Petra’s authentically multilingual and multicultural

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identity by targeting her hairstyle as a site for enacting racial shaming through misguided solidarity: Interview, 02–26–18 Petra:

I introduced myself, just kind of letting her know, “I’m still new, so I’m learning. Just let me know if there’s anything you need.” And she just, “Your hair is pulled back too tight.” I was like, “What?” *laughs* “Your hair is pulled back too tight.” I said, “Okay. She’s an old lady. She’s blonde. It’s fine. I can take it.” And she’s going off in dermatologist medical language, like “The follicles in your hairline, blah, blah, blah.” I wasn’t mad, I was like, “Oh, yeah. Okay. Cool, cool, cool.” But then, she goes, “You’re trying to be Caucasian.” And I said, “What?” I literally was like, “Huh?” And I just have a big afro all the time. This was literally the first day I wore my hair up in a bun. *laughs* So, then she said, “You’re trying to be Caucasian.” I was just like, “Hehe.” *uncomfortable laugh* And again, I was like, “Okay.” “Your hair is pulled back too tight. It’s never going to be straight. Don’t ever try to get it straight. You need to embrace your natural hair.” And then there was another interpreter there, too, and I looked at him, and I was like, “Uhhhh – I don’t know what to do.” So, I was like, “Okay. So funny.” And again, I just make a joke out of it. “Oh, you caught me the one day I had my hair up. Usually, I have a big old afro, but don’t you worry.” [Condescending tone] She just kept going on and on. And again, I didn’t use the term African American. I prefer Black. That’s just me. I was like, “You know, Black people in our community, it’s normal for us to use these things called slick back brushes where we slick our hair back, so it looks really tight, but it’s not. Just so we’re not looking a mess.” And then she let it go. I go to follow her with the computer and everything to go into the room, and turns to me, “Uh-uh.” [Disagreement] I was like, “Oh. Okay. So, I don’t have to interpret or scribe? Okay. I’ll just stay here in the hallway.” And then I remember they told me that she’s one of the doctors that doesn’t like people going in the room with her unless she needs a translator or interpreter.

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This attack by the Racist Doctor illustrates interlocutors may operate different storylines or take up/assign different roles, resulting in discourse that can have a different meaning for each party. In this example, while Petra and her coworkers assigned her the role of Racist Doctor, the doctor might have (misguidedly) assigned herself the role of Educator. One factor that may influence how each interlocutor perceives and participates in the discursive event stems from the social roles to which the individuals may consciously or subconsciously subscribe. Acevedo et al. (2015) explain: on one end our positions are informed by the duties and expectations particular to the roles and social discourses we inhabit. On the other end, positioning allows for the subjective histories of individuals – identities, personal attributes, experiences, as well as preconceived narratives and understandings of our social location – to play a critical function in the production of interpersonal behavior. (p. 32) Although the examination of social roles is helpful in teasing apart the complex construction of identity, Bernstein (2014) notes that positioning theory falls short of offering an analytic framework to examine more profoundly the power relations behind such roles. To bridge this gap, she draws upon the work of Bourdieu (1991) and Weedon (2004) to explain: Our ability to position ourselves as we choose or to resist undesirable positioning depends greatly on relations of power. Poststructuralists view power not as something a person always “has” or “does not have,” but as a relationship between subjects constituted in discourse, or the larger systems of power/knowledge that make certain subject positions available to be taken up in the first place. (p. 15) Like many members of marginalized communities experiencing racial attacks in situations of power, Petra did not engage in the confrontation. Instead, she attempted to use humor and education as a defense. She shared with me that her status as an intern discouraged her from defending herself in that racialized moment. Additionally, she did not feel it was appropriate to confront the Racist Doctor while they were in a professional setting. Petra later mentioned this encounter to the nursing and administrative staff, who were outraged and apologetic. The Mexican-American, bilingual nurses had also felt attacked by her racist behavior and shared with Petra the nickname they had given her: “la bruja” (the witch). The attack via denaturalization by the Racist Doctor exemplifies how dominating views of beauty “haunt the existence and psychology of Black women” (Patton, 2006, p.  24). Mirroring the colonial effects that have “haunted” Black and indigenous women in both the U.S. and Latin America

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(Masi de Casanova, 2004), the Racist Doctor utilized her privileged racial status (White) and position of power (doctor) to judge what she perceived as Petra’s attempt to suppress her Black roots and take on the position of a White female. To arrive at this conclusion, she began by classifying Petra as a Black woman based solely on the phenotypical information that her skin and hair texture provided. Based on this racial categorization of Petra, the physician assumed that her choice to wear a tightly pulled-back bun instead of letting her natural fro free was an attempt to construct an identity in which she was “trying to be Caucasian.” Despite Petra’s attempt at educating the physician that slicked-back hair was a common hairstyle for Black women, the Racist Doctor continued to impose her own colonial ideas of Black and White beauty on Petra. Specifically, in a misguided attempt at solidarity, she urged Petra to “embrace” her natural hair instead. This comment reflects the type of racial shaming that also occurs among members of the Black community. Thompson (2009) writes that ultimately, the ideological shift in Black hair coincided with a political shift. A “real” Black person adorned a “natural” hairstyle, while those who straightened their hair were deemed fake for attempting to emulate a White aesthetic, and an “unnatural” Black look. (p. 835) This shaming has been theorized as the Lily Complex, or the “altering, disguising, and covering up your physical self in order to assimilate, to be accepted as attractive” (Jones & Shorter-Gooden, 2003, p. 177). Soon after the incident, Petra was scheduled to work with the Racist Doctor again. In preparing for this second encounter, she made the conscious decision to show this physician that she was proud of her ethnicity by transforming her body into a site for resistance, or “actions that not only reject subordination but do so by challenging the ideologies that support that subordination” (Weitz, 2001, p. 670, emphasis maintained). In defying the doctor’s claims that she was denying her ethnic roots, she wore her natural fro (as she usually did) and one of her favorite shirts that read: Don’t worry, be nappy. Unfortunately, la bruja canceled her shift due to an out-of-thecountry vacation. The situation with the Racist Doctor was just one of many times that others would try and transform Petra’s various hairstyles from a site of creativity to one of hegemony. Mission in Ecuador: Nonconsensual Hair Treatment

On a different morning, after the first patient of the day did not show up to their appointment, Petra and I  had about an hour to catch up. Our

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conversation eventually turned to her time in Ecuador, revealing yet another encounter in which an interlocutor engaged in denaturalization through the subjection of the hegemonic ideals of (European) White beauty: Field note, 04–11–18 Our first patient was a no-show, so we chatted for an hour about her 18 months in Ecuador. . . . Well more of the “crazy” stories! She had told me before that her natural fro is her “signature accessory.” But while in Ecuador, she would get so many comments that she should straighten her hair – such as,“Ay, hermana Petra . . . Eres muy bonita pero no vemos tu cara.” (Oh, Sister Petra. . . . You’re so pretty, but we can’t see your face.) Although she was used to these comments, they eventually got to her, and she decided to go to the peluquería (beauty salon) where one of her mission friends would go. The woman working there said that she was just going to straighten it. . . . But had a bottle without a label. Although she made sure to ask what was in it, she later found out (after washing her hair twice and it not returning to its natural curly state) that there was keratin in it. . . . SHE HAD DONE A PERMANENT RELAXING/STRAIGHTENING TREATMENT. She went back and demanded that she fix it. The hair dresser explained that the only way to “fix it” was by cutting her hair and letting her natural curls grow back out. After this happened, her Afro-Latina friend with waist-long, straight hair explained that the same thing had happened to her. However, she didn’t want to chop off her hair, so now she just grows it out and continues to relax it.

During this conversation, Petra told me that she was used to people commenting on her hair and pressuring her to adopt a hairstyle that more closely fit with White beauty standards. She did not escape such pressures while living in Ecuador. As previously discussed, colonialism in Latin America has led to an idealization of White beauty that effectively discriminates against and oppresses Black and indigenous individuals. In contrast to the Racist Doctor, who perpetuated colonial-based ideals of White beauty in the U.S. through her inappropriate attempt at solidarity, the Ecuadorian females with whom she interacted while completing her mission undermined Petra’s corporeal claim to her Black heritage. Instead, they reinforced the “whiter the better” ideology of beauty that was introduced to Latin America during European colonization (Masi de Casanova, 2004, p. 291). Specifically, they urged her to straighten her hair, motivated by the belief that the absence of her African features (natural fro) would accentuate her “beautiful face.” Although Petra’s fro had always played a monumental role in the expression of her authentically multilingual/multidialectal identity, she felt coerced to humor these petitions by agreeing to straighten her hair temporarily. Petra, as will be seen in the next section, was not opposed to changing her hairstyle as a form of creativity. Although wearing her natural fro was a physical way in which she positioned herself as a multicultural woman,

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she agreed with Jones and Shorter-Gooden’s (2003) assertion that “trying on a new look, even one often associated with Europeans, does not automatically imply-self-hatred” (p.  178). However, she did so only when it was on her terms. Understanding that this was already a coercive situation, she took various precautions to protect her hair while submitting to the temporary hair straightening treatment. For example, she went to a hairdresser that a fellow missionary and friend knew and trusted and asked for the specific ingredients in the mysterious unlabeled bottle. Despite taking these precautions and making it very clear to the hairdresser that she did not want to undergo a permanent straightening treatment, the stylist also undercut Petra’s claim to an authentic identity by disregarding her wishes. In choosing to do so, the hairdresser took an action that not only perpetuated hegemonic ideals of White beauty but also forced Petra to physically conform to them. With the panicked realization of what had happened, she returned to the peluquería and asked the woman to fix what she had so wrongly done. As there was no way to reverse this permanent treatment, Petra only had two options: (i) cut her hair and let it grow back or (ii) keep it straight. Even though cutting her hair would mean that she would have to wait a significant amount of time for it to grow back to the length before the traumatic and nonconsensual treatment, she did not want to part with this identity marker. She made the decision to cut her hair, knowing that such a choice would maintain her position on the margin of what this White- (European) dominated society deemed as beautiful. Such a choice reflects the notion that “Black hair is inextricably laden with social, class, sexual, and cultural implications” (Thompson, 2009, p. 851).

Phoenix Report: Social and Labor Mobility

In the same conversation Petra told me about her hair straightening experience in Ecuador, she shared another encounter that took place at the Phoenix Report. In this instance, however, the interlocutor engaged in denaturalization on a much larger scale. Specifically, a newscast supervisor undermined an entire racial group’s choice to enact corporeal expression as an identity marker by pushing the ideals of White beauty that have been normalized historically in mass media: Field note, 04–11–18 Petra told me that she had a similar conversation with many newscast supervisors who told her that she needed to wear her hair the same way so that her audiences would recognize her. Her response was, “Y’all need to learn something about the Black community. Black women change their hair all the time. They are accustomed to it.”

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As has been discussed, hairstyles have social, political, and economic consequences for Black women, both inside and outside of the Black community. For example, if a Black woman alters her hair, she may be accused of rejecting her culture, as with the Racist Doctor. With this in mind, scholars have argued that such decisions are “not synonymous with racial shame or ‘acting white,’ but rather can be a form of creativity” (Patton, 2006, p. 29, emphasis maintained). Exercising the liberty and ability to express creativity, it is not uncommon for Black women to change their hairstyles frequently. Although Petra generally maintained her natural fro as she felt like it was an extension of who she was, her decision to change her hair did not translate into changing her identity. Instead, she was also exercising this form of creativity. When she attempted to take part in this creative action, different newscast supervisors at the Phoenix Report with whom Petra had worked informed her that changing her hairstyle regularly could pose a potential barrier to her social and labor mobility. As mass media outlets seek to reach members of the dominant culture, the decisions made on and off the camera conform to the ideologies that dominate within that specific society. In this case, although Petra explained that Black women change their hairstyles “all the time” and are accustomed to this practice within their community, the newscast supervisors maintained that most White audience members were not. Therefore, if she wanted to have a successful position and social recognition in mass communication within a “majorityWhite corporate environment” (Robinson, 2006, p. 9), she needed to conform to this ideology by maintaining a consistent and recognizable appearance. Unfortunately, the practice of suppressing Black women’s opportunities for social and labor mobility in the workplace based on their choice to not conform to such ideologies is a well-noted phenomenon. To exemplify this, Thompson (2009) traces several cases in which “punitive measures [were] taken by employers to restrict the donning of ‘natural’ in the workplace” (p. 836). Such cases include Rogers v. American Airlines (1981), where the court sided ultimately with the employer’s right to “prohibit categorically the wearing of braided hairstyles in the workplace” (Thompson, 2009, p. 836), as well as an incident in 2007 when a Black woman was fired from her job at a prison in West Virginia due to her braided hairstyle. Despite receiving these “suggestions” from the newscast supervisors, Petra continued to claim her hairstyle as a site of resistance – both by wearing her natural fro and exercising her right to enact corporeal creativity as she desired. Implications for EX-LL/LSP Pedagogy and Internship Design

These experiences are just some of the ways that Petra engaged in linguistic-, ethnic-, and racial-based identity work that transcended the goals of the SSP program. Like María, Petra’s journey points to implications for experiential language learning (EX-LL)/LSP pedagogy and internship design. Petra’s journey emphasizes explicitly the need for programs to place interns and students

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adequately at community sites. Her experiences with racialized encounters also demonstrate the need to include program content that fosters students’ ability to raise their critical awareness as a support while engaging in linguistic-, ethnic-, and racial-based identity work (see Chapter 4 for implications). As always, each practitioner, coordinator, and/or administrator should make decisions based on the unique context and needs of both the learners and target communities. Adequate Internship Placement

In the case of Southwestern University, community-based internships serve as the culminating experience in completing the SSP minor. As such, the internships should be a practical experience within a student’s field of study that allows them to utilize their knowledge from previous SSP coursework. As described previously, Petra was a journalism student who had originally requested to carry out her SSP internship at a new community site: a local news channel where she would translate stories for their Spanish-speaking audience. However, due to the short notice of such a request, there was no time to establish a collaborative partnership or create an internship contract with the site’s director before the start of the semester. Therefore, the only viable solution was to offer her an internship in a different field of study at a site with an existing contract: the Phoenix Community Clinic. Even though Petra reported enjoying and learning from her experience, the findings of this research illustrated that she had not received adequate preparation, such as training on medical interpretation, to maximize her potential while taking on this role. A possible way to combat such logistical issues for LSP programs that require/offer an internship is through implementing policies that address such challenges. An example of such a policy could be, upon officially registering for the program (e.g., minor, certificate), students are informed of this experience and required to commit to a certain field, role, or site by an indicated deadline. Such a policy is tangible in LSP programs as many students come from professional programs that have already chosen their career paths upon acceptance. Ideally, implementing such a policy would allow internship instructors/ coordinators a larger timeframe to seek out potential internship sites that would fit the needs and goals of their students. Furthermore, by making this commitment early on in their SSP trajectory, instructors/coordinators would have the appropriate information to advise students on which courses (e.g., suggesting translation and/or interpretation courses as required program courses to prepare them for their internships) are essential for the successful completion of their overall professional goals and internship experience. The adequate placement of interns also has implications for translation and interpretation and the larger social issue at hand: the lack of access to high-quality care and services for Spanish speakers/Hispanics/Latinxs in the United States. As mentioned, although DHHS has outlined different competencies that are required for an individual to be considered a “qualified

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interpreter” (Basu et al., 2017), there still exist instances in which individuals who do not meet such requirements are expected, coerced, and/or allowed to take up this position during high-stakes events. This was the case for Petra. Petra was allowed to take on this role despite not receiving any training in medicine or interpretation (inside or outside the medical field). The only requirement was a successful interview with the medical director of the community site. Such a practice has been documented extensively in instances of language brokering (Crafter & Iqbal, 2022; Delgado, 2023). Neglecting to provide individuals with limited English proficiency appropriate interpretation services can lead to serious consequences for both the patients and the individuals being assigned an interpretive position. For example, a study following “ad hoc interpreters” (e.g., family members, strangers, other staff) examining their errors and the clinical consequences in medical encounters with professional interpreters found that “professional interpreters result in a significantly lower likelihood of errors of potential consequences than ad hoc and no interpreters” (Flores et al., 2008, p. 545). Therefore, in addition to ensuring the proper placement (and training) of LSP students to foster relevant professional experiences, it is vital that community sites offer interpretation and translation services that meet existing standards (e.g., DHSS) so as to be considered high-quality and appropriate services. Takeaways and Points for Continued Reflection

In this chapter, we have discussed Petra’s journey in engaging in identity work across discursive events related to (i) self-protection in situations of linguistic discomfort, (ii) language as a vehicle for interpersonal connection, and (iii) corporeal resistance in (White) European-dominated societies. The following “Takeaways and Points for Continued Reflection” are offered to help you reflect on your EX-LL/LSP programs and apply information to support language learners as they engage in EX-LL and interact with others.

Takeaways and Points for Continued Reflection • Brainstorm how you can incorporate your knowledge of positioning theory into the EX-LL/LSP program and your own practice to support students’ identity work. ○ What types of storylines and positions are your students taking up or being assigned in their EX-LL/LSP internship? ○ Are students facing positions where they are being assigned unwanted positions? How are they dealing with these situations? What kind of support can they be offered? ○ What type of support do your students need to take up their desired positions?

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• Reflect on your institution’s policies and practices to adequately place students at community sites for EX-LL/LSP experiences. ○ Are there any policies or practices to ensure students are appropriately placed at community sites? ○ Are there any policies or practices to ensure that students are adequately prepared to engage in the work expected of them? ○ Are there any periods for reflection or assessment during the EX-LL/LSP experience to determine if students need additional support to complete their duties and engage with community members appropriately?

Note 1 These roles required Petra to interpret simultaneously from English to Spanish for physicians and patients. Also, depending upon the preferences of the physician, Petra was tasked with making notes electronically (in English) to patients’ charts regarding the events of the visit.

Reference List Acevedo, S. M., Aho, M., Cela, E., Chao, J. C., Garcia-Gonzales, I., MacLeod, A., Moutray, C., & Olague, C. (2015). Positionality as knowledge: From pedagogy to praxis. Integral Review: A Transdisciplinary & Transcultural Journal for New Thought, Research, & Praxis, 11(1), 28–46. Basu, G., Phillips Costa, V., & Jain, P. (2017). Clinician’s obligations to use qualified medical interpreters when caring for patients with limited English proficiency. AMA Journal of Ethics, 19(3), 245–252. Bernstein, K. (2014). Learning English as an L2 in pre-K: A practice perspective on identity acquisition [Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of California at Berkeley]. Bourdieu, P. (1991). Language and symbolic power. Polity Press. Bristout, R. (2018). Cardi B makes history: All her record-breaking stats (so far). Revolt. https://revolt.tv/stories/2018/01/18/cardi-makes-history-recordbreakingstats-070002bd04 Bucholtz, M., & Hall, K. (2005). Identity and interaction: A sociocultural linguistic approach. Discourse Studies, 7(4–5), 585–614. Cameron, D. (2001). Working with spoken discourse. SAGE Publishing. Crafter, S., & Iqbal, H. (2022). Child language brokering as family care: Reframing the ‘parentified child’ debate. Children & Society, 36, 400–414. Dara Hill, K. (2009). Code-switching pedagogies and African American student voices: Acceptance and resistance. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 53(2), 120–131. Davies, B.,  & Harré, R. (1990). Positioning: The discursive production of selves. Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour, 20, 43–63.

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Delgado, V. (2023). Uncovering youth’s invisible labor: Children’s roles, care work, and familial obligations in Latino/a Immigrant Families. Social Sciences, 12(36), 1–13. Flores, E., Tschann, J. M., Dimas, J. M., Bachen, E. A., Pasch, L. A.,  & de Goat, C. L. (2008). Perceived discrimination, perceived stress, and mental and physical health among Mexican-origin adults. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 30(4), 401–424. Gregg, J., & Saha, S. (2007). Communicative competence: A framework for understanding language barriers in health care. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 22(2), 368–370. Irvine, J. T.,  & Gal, S. (2000). Language ideology and linguistic differentiation. In P. V. Kroskrity (Ed.), Regimes of language: Ideologies, polities, and identities (pp. 35–84). School of American Research Press. Jones, C., & Shorter-Gooden, K. (2003). Shifting: The double lives of Black women in America. HarperCollins Publishers. Masi de Casanova, E. (2004). “No ugly women”: Concepts of race and beauty among adolescent women in Ecuador. Gender & Society, 18(3), 287–308. Miller, G. E. (2018). Cardi B’s meteoric rise from stripper to superstar. New York Post. https://nypost.com/2018/04/05/cardi-bs-meteoric-rise-from-stripper-to-superstar/ Park, M. S. (2013). Code-switching and translanguaging: Potential functions in multilingual classrooms. Teachers College, Columbia University Working Papers in TESOL & Applied Linguistics, 13(2), 50–52. Patton, T. O. (2006). Hey girl, am I more than my hair? African American women and their struggles with beauty, body image, and hair. NWSA Journal, 24–51. Pavlenko, A., & Blackledge, A. (Eds.). (2004). Negotiation of identities in multilingual contexts (Vol. 45). Multilingual Matters. Robinson, L. (2006). The politics of hair. Crisis, 113(5), 9. Thompson, C. (2009). Black women, beauty and hair as a matter of being. Women’s Studies, 38(8), 831–856. Urban Dictionary. (2008, July  31). Ghetto. www.urbandictionary.com/define. php?term=ghetto Weedon, C. (2004). Identity and culture. Open University Press. Wei, L. (2011). Moment analysis and translanguaging space: Discursive construction of identities by multilingual Chinese youth in Britain. Journal of Pragmatics, 43(5), 1222–1235. Weitz, R. (2001). Women and their hair: Seeking power through resistance and accommodation. Gender & Society, 15(5), 667–686.

4 PENELOPE OR PENÉLOPE? Penélope’s Journey of (Re)Claiming Her Identity as a Legitimate Speaker and Mexican-American Woman Across Transnational Social Fields

Seated at a table next to a fountain, Penélope and I met in the brisk downtown morning. After exchanging a hug and her commenting on my lighter hair, we began walking together to the law firm where she would be carrying out her interview. Looking like an ambitious reporter, she was wearing her business casual look, complete with thick-rimmed glasses and a grey blazer. On the way to the law firm, she explained that she was working on a piece in which she explored the journey, cost, treatment, and success rates for Hispanics/Latinxs dealing with immigration issues that have legal representation versus those without. Her supervisor at the Phoenix Reportaje required her to have three sources for this piece. Her first interviewee is a Mexican lawyer [Community Member 6] who is a key member in an organization whose work focuses around providing and improving pro bono legal services for low income community members from a social justice standpoint. We arrived at a tall building clothed completely in glass. We made our way up to a higher-level floor and walked out into a marble floored lobby. I immediately felt intimidated – like I was no longer an actual adult, let alone an adult that would be graduating next semester. Her contact was in a mediation session, so we waited on one of the backless couches that was pushed up against the wall, strategically placing ourselves outside of the centrally located waiting area. We began to catch up as I hadn’t seen her since her trip to Puerto Rico. (Fieldnote, 03–27–18)

Introduction

While getting to know Penélope, I came to envision her as the rebel of her tight-knit family. She was the first of her siblings to head to college out of DOI: 10.4324/9781003257141-4

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state, a decision that originally started as just a “capricho” (whim/impulse). During a fight with her mother, she told her that she would apply to schools outside of Colorado without actually intending to do so. However, when she received her acceptance letters and scholarship offers from Southwestern University, she began to realize that this was a real possibility. After researching the academic programs at the School of Journalism and touring the campus, she decided to make the move. Through this new adventure, Penélope reconnected with herself, her family in both Colorado and Mexico, and her heritage language (HL). In this chapter, I focus on Penélope’s journey, examining the experiences that her professional internship afforded her and how she harnessed these experiences to engage in language- and ethnicity-/race-based identity work that transcended the goals of the Spanish for specific purposes (SSP) program. Despite being far away from home, Penélope utilized language to (re)claim her identity as both a legitimate speaker of her HL and a Mexican-American woman across transnational social fields. Building off of language ideologies and positioning theory, I implement HL pedagogy to examine three important themes that represent the type of identity work she did across discursive events: (i) journalism as a bridge to family and community, (ii) development of (linguistic) empathy for generational journeys, and (iii) (re)claiming a Mexican-American identity. Narration of Penélope’s Language Acquisition Background

Important to Penélope’s journey of identity work are her language acquisition background and the dominating language ideologies surrounding the Spanish language and Mexican population in her hometown. When asked about her nationality, Penélope always said that her family was from Michoacán, Mexico. Her parents came to the United States (U.S.) before she was born in a small town in Colorado, where she lived all her life until leaving for college in Arizona. With Spanish as her parents’ first language, she grew up hearing and speaking it primarily at home. Despite the sizeable Mexican population of her town, the dominant language of most businesses and academic institutions was English. As first introduced in the Preface, many pedagogues would classify Penélope as an HL speaker based on Valdés’ (2000) narrow definition of an individual “who is raised in a home where a non-English language is spoken, who speaks or merely understands the heritage language, and who is to some degree bilingual in English and the heritage language” (p. 1). Present within her hometown were language ideologies that reinforced negative ethnic stereotypes against the large Mexican population that made up part of this community, beliefs that affected Penélope and the positions available to her from a young age. Beginning around the age of five, Penélope was assigned the position of Language Broker or a child or teenager who

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engages in translation or interpretation for their parents, other family members, and/or community members without having formal training or receiving acknowledgment (Orozco Jutorán & Vargas-Urpí, 2022). She was assigned this position out of the necessity to help bridge communication between her parents and English-speaking individuals in the community. Within these storylines, she saw how her parents were treated differently than other parents, patrons, and clients who spoke English. She saw the frustration in their interlocutors’ speech and actions when her parents could not engage in the dominant language. As a young child, she internalized these negative experiences and rejected positions tied to Spanish. Instead, she reserved this language for storylines with which she communicated and facilitated communication for her parents only when required. Her choice to use Spanish as a private language at home was also influenced by the negative stereotypes about Mexicans present within the storylines in her hometown. Specifically, she did not want to be perceived as the “typical Mexican that doesn’t do anything. That doesn’t care about a thing” (Interview, 05–04–18). Therefore, by utilizing the socially dominant language of English, she avoided being assigned membership to this group. Noticing this strategy, her brother often commented that she wanted to be “White.” A statement with which she did not agree. In addition to internalizing the negative ideologies in the storylines surrounding her ethnicity and language, Penélope would experience self-doubt in instances where she did choose to use Spanish. Like many HL speakers, this doubt stemmed primarily from speaking the language at home versus having the opportunity to develop it in an academic setting. She often felt self-conscious that she was saying something incorrectly or that the way she spoke was not reflective of a professional adult but rather a “16-year-old at a family barbeque” (Interview, 02–17–18). The context in which HL speakers, like Penélope, have acquired an HL language is an important factor that shapes their linguistic and affective needs. Generally, second language (L2) learners and native speakers (NS) have acquired and polished their linguistic skills through exposure to a more “academic” register of Spanish in a formal, educational context. In contrast, HL learners are commonly exposed to the language more informally within their homes and communities (Beaudrie et  al., 2014). Due to this acquisition mode, HL learners usually have stronger oral and aural abilities but may need to cultivate further their (academic) writing skills (Pascual y Cabo  & Rothman, 2012). In like manner, it is common that HL learners have acquired a U.S. Spanish variety that, despite its “inherent linguistic legitimacy .  .  . is relegated to a subordinate status” (Loza, 2017, p.  60). Such negative language ideologies around U.S. Spanish varieties attest to the discrimination HL learners, like Penélope, often experience from members of their own community, monolingual Spanish speakers, and/or educators (Loza, 2017). Unsurprisingly, such discriminatory treatment and negative

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attitudes toward their language variety may discourage HL speakers from using their HL language. One reason that some U.S. Spanish varieties, specifically in the Southwest of the country, have been deemed as “subordinate” derives from their use of archaic forms of the language. For example, in their Linguistic Atlas dedicated to exploring the Spanish in New Mexico and Southern Colorado, Bills and Vigil (2008) define archaism as “usages that are obsolete at least with respect to the standard language” (p. 32). In reference to the Southwest, they call upon Buesa and Enguita Utrilla’s (1992) definition of arcaísmos, as “términos que no se han perdido en el español medio peninsular, aunque han abandonado su sentido antiguo que, sin embargo, ha perdurado en América” (p.  215), or “terms that haven’t been lost in the Spanish of the central [Iberian] peninsula although they have lost the older meaning that has nevertheless endured in America” (Bills and Vigil’s translation, p. 32).

(4.1)  Examples of arcaísmos a. asina

(“standard” así)

b. hablastes

(“standard” hablaste)

c. truje

(“standard” traje)

Another reason why U.S. Spanish varieties have been deemed as “subordinate” stems from the belief that contact with the majority language of the country (English) represents an Americanized identity (Richardson  & Pisani, 2017) and has degraded the quality of the Spanish spoken by HL learners (Zentella, 2008). This “degradation” may manifest itself through the use of stigmatized features, such as calques, borrowings, codeswitching, and semantic extensions (Leeman  & Serafini, 2016). Research in HL and sociolinguistics has not only found this to be inaccurate (Loza, 2017) but also demonstrates how using such features is important for the negotiation of these bilingual learners’ identities (Sánchez-Muñoz, 2013). Penélope’s experiences of linguistic discrimination, along with her selfdoubt and desire to be isolated from negative stereotypes about Mexicans, were some reasons that led her to reject Spanish-Speaking Professional as a possible position in her future career. This rejection influenced her decision to pursue a career in English-language journalism, despite her family’s suggestion that she should consider entering the Spanish-speaking market. As such, she spent her first two years at Southwestern University taking classes in English. It was not until a scheduling conflict prompted her to take a

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bilingual reporting class that she considered that her HL could be a part of her professional identity. Journalism as a Bridge to Family and Community

At Southwestern University, the English-language journalism classes seek to foster the preparation of students wanting to work in English-speaking markets in the United States. Contrastingly, the SSP courses offered are designed to teach students the content and skills necessary to utilize the target language of Spanish in their professional field. In doing so, they not only focus on required linguistic skills but also incorporate cultural, social, political, and economic issues pertinent to Hispanic/Latinx communities in the country. Examples of required core courses include Spanish for the professions, Spanish in the U.S. professional communities, and Latino cultural perspectives for the professions. After completing these courses, students can take SSP courses related to their professional fields (e.g., business, sustainability, journalism, law, medicine). Discovering Herself Through the Spanish for Specific Purposes Program

While taking these SSP classes and engaging in an internship, Penélope became closer to her family and community despite being hundreds of miles away. In one of our interviews, Penélope explained to me how, through the curriculum, she had the opportunity to learn about issues affecting Hispanics/Latinxs in the U.S. – issues that she was not aware had affected her own family: Interview, 02–17–18 Penélope:

I think taking the courses, personally, has kind of made me want to learn more about. . . . Because obviously, I’m Mexican. So, I feel like a huge part makes me want to learn more about my culture. For example, in one of my [SSP] classes, we learned about the Bracero Program.1 And I didn’t really know about my culture when I was younger. I don’t even know how it came up, but I figured it out that my grandpa came in [to the U.S.] as a bracero. So, just kind of like being able to kind of track that down and learn more about it. I feel like it made me grow personally a lot because it kind of made me learn about myself.

Through her reflection, Penélope demonstrates how, through taking a class centered on issues pertinent to her own culture, she found an intrinsic motivation to continue discovering more about her heritage culture and

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language. By learning about these issues, she was able to connect to her family and culture and learn more about herself. Different speakers’ connections to a language and community of focus have a significant impact on their involvement with and access to the community. For example, L2 learners are typically considered outsiders of the community, and nonlocal NSs may position themselves/be positioned as outsiders. On the other hand, HL learners, such as Penélope, are more likely to connect with the HL community through their personal and professional relations. These relationships and the desire to share in their community and heritage often motivate these learners to continue developing their linguistic skills (Sánchez-Muñoz, 2016). Furthermore, these connections are also likely to inspire HL learners to make career decisions that consider how they can be involved in and benefit these communities (Leeman et al., 2011). This was the case for Penélope. To illustrate, she had an experience in a bilingual reporting class that helped to solidify her choice to become a Spanish-language journalist: Interview, 02–17–18 Penélope: I did my first story on el papá de una de mis amigas. Es un paralegal y ofrece servicios de inmigración. También tiene clases de inglés y clases de la ciudadanía.

I did my first story about one of my friend’s dads. He is a paralegal and offers immigration services. He also offers English classes and classes about citizenship.

I did my first story on him, in Spanish, and I don’t know. I just like loved it. It was weird because when I did that, I kind of realized, okay, first of all, not everybody can do it in Spanish. Not everybody can, and I can. And I don’t know, it sounds so cheesy, but it was like a feeling. Like I felt kind of fulfilled. I felt like I was doing something that actually mattered. After talking to people and getting to know a little bit about their backgrounds, I could see my parents, and I could see my family.

This passage shows how Penélope’s motivation to continue developing and using the language was not purely instrumental. Rather, as Penélope described, it was linked to a “feeling.” This feeling represented a shift in her identity as a language user that manifested as an indirect result

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of her engagement with the SSP internship program, a program whose “specific purpose” of language use was not explicitly designed for such identity work. As previously described, Penélope had internalized negative ideologies both connected to the social representation of Mexicans in her hometown and the stigmatization of her U.S. Spanish variety. In an attempt to distance herself from these stereotypes, she constrained her use of Spanish to a private, family language that should be avoided in public whenever possible. Yet, as she began engaging in the SSP program at Southwestern University, her relationship with her HL began to change. As is the case with many HL learners whose affective relationship to language is not represented solely by print in a textbook but is rather an extension of their family and community, Penélope’s desire to share in her heritage motivated her decision to continue developing her linguistic skills (Parra, 2016; Sánchez-Muñoz, 2016). Specifically, through the experiences afforded by her SSP internship, her HL shifted from this private, family language to an acceptable, public language, and journalism became a vehicle through which she could reach out and begin to build relationships with members of her HL community that transcended national borders. Through the completion of her internship duties, she began to identify these community members with her family and utilized language as a way to bring to light issues that were pertinent to this community. Linguistic and Cultural Pride

Although she engaged in this identity work independently from any of the pedagogical interventions or internship design goals focused on linguistic improvements and effective workplace communication, she began to achieve what Parra (2016) has described as the ultimate goal for HL students: “to embrace their own language and use it to develop their social consciousness and voice, to become agents of constructive action toward positive change in their communities and beyond” (p. 170). Penélope’s sense of fulfillment was accompanied by accomplishment. She had overcome the feat of completing her first Spanish-language news story. This accomplishment left her with a sense of confidence and the realization that her bilingualism was an impressive skill that not all journalists possess. Even though this story began only as a class assignment, it would serve as the starting point of her career as a Spanish-language student journalist. The professor of this course passed Penélope’s story on to the newscast supervisor of the Phoenix Reportaje. After viewing her work, the supervisor decided to air it on the televised program broadcasted through Univision Arizona. Upon receiving the news that her first-ever package was going to air, Penélope explained her reaction of shock:

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Interview, 02–17–18 Penélope: I was just shocked! I called my sister, and I was like, “Oh my God. You’re not gonna believe it. They aired my stuff.” And then, I told my mom about it, And then, I told my mom about it, and she was like, “Oh my gosh. and she was like, “Oh my gosh. How nice. Look, this doesn’t Qué bonito. Fíjate, no a todos en happen to everyone on their first su primer trabajo. No a todos.” piece. Not everyone. And I was like, “Okay, mom.” So, after that, I started doing in Spanish. Because my dad speaks English, but he doesn’t like to speak it, and my mom understands it, but she doesn’t like to speak it. Because they just don’t feel comfortable. So, this was the first time they were really able to enjoy my work. So, whenever I do something, I’d be like, “Show this to dad, show this to mom.” It kind of all started there.

She was stunned to have achieved such an accomplishment with her first story in a language in which she did not feel confident. After coming down from the sense of shock, her first action was to call her older sister, who had always been one of her biggest support systems. She was the only person in the family to support her decision to move to Arizona and was the one to drop her off at college. Penélope continued sharing the good news by calling her mother, who responded with praise and a sense of pride. Although Penélope had carried out other news stories before this semester, her family could not fully participate in them due to their low level of proficiency and lack of comfort with English. Again, her affective relationship with her HL and journalism skills allowed her to traverse the physical distance between her and her family and create a connection they had not previously had. With the success of her first story and the support of her family, she decided to dedicate herself to a career as a journalist in the Spanishlanguage market in the U.S. Her first step in doing so was becoming a team member of the Phoenix Reportaje at the School of Journalism, a professional program created for bilingual students to gain real-world experience in journalism through focusing on stories that center around the Hispanic/Latinx communities locally, nationally, and globally.

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After her story was aired, Penélope was invited to work as a (digital) broadcaster for the Phoenix Reportaje. In our interview, she described how, in addition to receiving pertinent work experience in her field, she utilized her HL to reach out and connect with other members of her heritage community: her family in Mexico. Her family felt a sense of pride that she was using their language and culture, which she realized during her reflection was also her language and culture. Interview, 02–17–18 Penélope: I’d been publishing work with them and stuff, and then I started doing more. We have a Facebook Live show we do and I’ve been writing stuff [for it]. And I’m doing all this stuff, so my parents see it on Facebook. And they recently went to Mexico. When my mom got back, she When my mom got back, she called called me, and she’s like, me, and she’s like, “Tu papá le estaba “Your dad was telling all of diciendo a todas tus tías . . . Que allá your aunts. . . . Everyone over todas te ven en el Face.” there sees you on Facebook.” And like, I don’t know, they think I’m like a celebrity or something. Which is endearing! It’s endearing to me too because. . . . They’re so proud. I think that what makes them more proud is the fact that I went back to Spanish. Because they never pushed it on me. It was just like an idea. But the fact that I kind of found a way back to it is really nice. And I can tell that it makes them proud that I’m using my culture. Using their culture.

As previously described in Chapter 1, the students at the Phoenix Reportaje were responsible for assembling two different broadcasts: a televised newscast transmitted by Univision Arizona and a Facebook Live show that streamed vis-à-vis this social media platform. Whereas the televised newscasts were more easily accessible to those in the local area, the Facebook Live shows could be shared and viewed nationally and internationally at just the click of a button. The affordance of this technology permitted her family in Colorado to view her work and show their pride in their daughter. In addition to being proud of her packages and overall success as a broadcaster, they

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were especially proud that she was using the Spanish language to carry out this work. Whereas she used to purposefully avoid using Spanish to hide her cultural and ethnic connections, Penélope now openly stated that she found her way back to her first language after so many years of distancing herself. She found her way back to her culture and her family’s culture. Penélope’s affective shift towards her HL language can be seen additionally through her use of emotive words. Specifically, her discourse was marked by the use of emotive language when referring to the role that her HL played in bridging communication with her family across physical borders: Interview, 02–17–18 Penélope:

Which is endearing! It’s endearing to me too because. . . . They’re so proud. I think that what makes them more proud is the fact that I went back to Spanish. Because they never pushed it on me. It was just like an idea. But the fact that I kind of found a way back to it is really nice. And I can tell that it makes them proud that I’m using my culture. Using their culture.

When considering the role that emotive language plays in the transmission of a speaker’s message, Foolen (2012) argues: People have the ability to conceptualize emotions, not only their own, but also those of others, and in this respect cognition serves as intermediate between language and emotion. But a speaker also has the possibility of expressing his/her own emotions directly via language, resulting in expressive (also called emotive or affective) language. (p. 350, emphasis maintained) Therefore, in choosing words such as “endearing,” “proud,” and “nice,” Penélope expressed the positive and intimate emotions that the use of her HL evoked. A route through which her family demonstrated their pride and support beyond emotive language was by promoting her work to their family who still resided in Mexico. When telling Penélope about their latest trip to Mexico, her mother shared that her father was boasting and showing her journalistic work to all her aunts. Her extended family similarly celebrated the success of her work by not only viewing her stories but also, in the case of her cousins, bringing her pieces into the community. The fact that Penélope was utilizing their shared first language of Spanish to discuss important issues to their cultures and communities helped to forge a connection across a transnational social field, or what El-Haj (2015) described as “the uneven broader social, political, economic, and cultural processes that shape practices and

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identifications within [these] communities, whether or not people actually move, or move back and forth” (p. 2). These experiences also helped her to build a connection to her heritage community within the state of Arizona. When I asked her about how involved she considered herself to be with her heritage community on a professional level before beginning her internship, she told me that she did not feel actively involved. Even though she had friends and family that were Mexican and/ or Hispanic/Latinx, she felt as if she were an outsider of the community. However, her positionality to the local community shifted as she began to use her HL as a bridge to connect with community members through her work for the Phoenix Reportaje. The contacts that Penélope had made through researching and creating packages transformed into colleagues that would “tip her off” on events happening in the community. For example, when there were cases of interest to the Hispanic/Latinx community, a legislator that she had gotten to know would call her to inform her of the events taking place at court and when the transcripts would be released for her to review. Her relation to this community did not only change on a professional level, however. I followed up by asking what she felt like her relationship was to this specific community on a personal level. Penélope described how she now felt like it was her community. Interview, 02–17–18 Penélope:

I feel like it’s my community. I feel like before that, I don’t think that I had the right to kind of claim this community, but now I’m like, “You know what? This is my community. This is my parents’, my family’s community. I’m the community . . .” It’s weird, but in Arizona, this community is kind of like helping me connect with my community back home.

At the beginning of her response, she reiterated her feeling of being an outsider. She did not have the “right” to position herself as a member of the Hispanic/Latinx community in Arizona. Despite this feeling, her decision to dedicate herself to a career in the Spanish-speaking market required her to enter the community. Specifically, to carry out her internship duties, she needed to research issues, attend community events, and speak with community leaders and members. By appropriating language-as-resource in these interactions and throughout her internship, Penélope seemed to be shifting from a language-as-problem to a language-as-right orientation (Ruíz, 1984). Specifically, she saw herself becoming more involved, more invested, and more active. This community she once saw as isolated from her roots evolved into a central component of her heritage community and professional (and personal) identity. As she negotiated these identities, she also negotiated her

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positionality to the community. She felt that she did have a right to claim and declare that it was her community. And not just her community but her parents’ and her family’s community. Penélope expressed her shifting positionality to her HL community through the use of a specific linguistic feature in her discourse: possessive adjectives (i.e., my, your, his, hers, its, your, our, their, possessive -s). The function of this specific type of adjective is to aid a speaker in expressing the sentiment of ownership, possession, and/or belonging. In this same passage, Penélope utilized both the first-person possessive adjective (my) and possessive -s (parents’, family’s) to refer to her family’s and her own belonging to their heritage community: Interview, 02–17–18 Penélope:

I feel like it’s my community. I feel like before that, I don’t think that I had the right to kind of claim this community, but now I’m like, “You know what? This is my community. This is my parents’, my family’s community. I’m the community . . .” It’s weird, but in Arizona, this community is kind of like helping me connect with my community back home.

Even though these physical experiences took place in Arizona, she explained that they helped her navigate a sense of belonging across a transnational social field. Specifically, Penélope’s SSP internship and coursework duties pushed her unintentionally to take steps into a community physically located in Arizona to which she did not originally feel a sense of belonging. Through interacting with community members and learning their stories, she “connected” to and claimed a sense of belonging to her community back home in Colorado. Although different, both Penélope’s and Petra’s subjective and affective responses to language that were often based upon language ideologies influenced how they took up and were assigned positions as language speakers. Whereas Petra was considered a Competent and Legitimate Speaker in Ecuador, this position was taken away quickly from her in the U.S. when the goal of communication changed from engaging in casual conversation or common church-related duties to facilitating communication between patients and medical providers. Penélope, on the other hand, avoided the possible position of Competent and Legitimate Speaker by refusing to use her HL in public discourse. Not until her affective relationship with the language changed did she begin to take on and expect others to assign her such a role. The experiences of these two speakers, who had very different language acquisition and SSP internship journeys, point to an important implication for the communicative competence model (Bachman & Palmer, 1996). As the model stands

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currently, no construct accounts for these socially based affective relationships to language, and one’s positioned identity. Even though the construct of sociolinguistic knowledge is present, it specifically refers to the necessary knowledge of language diversity and variation to transmit and understand a message. Therefore, an additional construct is necessary to understand more profoundly how affective relationships and available positions influence a speaker’s willingness and ability to engage in discourse. The proposal for such a construct will be discussed in Chapter 5. Development of (Linguistic) Empathy for Generational Journeys

In addition to fostering her linguistic and cultural pride, Penélope’s experiences with members of her heritage community fostered her ability to empathize with the linguistic journeys different generations of immigrants have taken and continue to take. As described previously, many socio-affective features have impacted how Penélope perceived her linguistic abilities in her HL. Some of these features include the negative treatment of her parents as native Spanish speakers and the negative stereotypes of Mexicans in her hometown. A  third feature that influenced Penélope’s and many other HL learners’ linguistic abilities and self-confidence is explained through generational immigration. Overcoming Self-doubt Through Mirrored Experiences

When speaking of generational immigration, sociolinguists maintain that there is a “three-generation pattern of language shift” (Beaudrie et al., 2014, p. 29). The first generation (G1) immigrate to the U.S. in adulthood and are fluent (and most likely monolingual) in the HL – in this case, Penélope’s parents. The second generation (G2) comprises these adults’ children who are either born in the new country or arrived before age five – such as Penélope and her siblings. The G2s typically have stronger linguistic abilities in English due to the language’s dominating presence within the country. Finally, the third generation (G3) are the grandchildren of the first generation – such as Penélope’s nieces and nephews. Although these G3s may possess some level of proficiency, it is common that they have not acquired any receptive or productive abilities in the HL due to issues of policy, politics, and power (Beaudrie et al., 2014). For example, due to the political tensions and monolingual language ideologies mentioned in Chapter 1 (e.g., English-only legislation, immigration enforcement, racial profiling), many G1s prefer that their children (G2s) and grandchildren (G3s) acquire English as their dominant language due to the racist and discriminatory treatment that they had received as Spanish speakers in the Southwest of the country. Additionally, each generation may have

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learned to value the politically dominating English language more than Spanish since the Arizona legislation has made it illegal for community members to participate in bilingual education. Even though Penélope’s family represented three different generations, before engaging in her SSP internship, she did not empathize with the struggles that her family members had and continued to face due to immigration. Her engagement in the SSP minor program catalyzed identity work that helped her to develop this sense of empathy. Specifically, her public and professional uses of Spanish were essential in creating a connection to her family and community and transforming her relationship with her HL from a private to a public one. For example, as described in the opening vignette, Penélope traveled to Puerto Rico during a semester as a component of one of her English-language journalism classes. The students’ objective was to cover the island post-­Hurricane María, specifically focusing on the (lack of) emergency support that those residing in the mountainous regions had received compared to those living in, or close to, more urban areas. To complete this objective, they had to enter different communities and interact with various social actors throughout the island. During one of the observations, she told me that one of the most surprising and impactful parts of this trip stemmed from the sense of empathy that she constructed through interacting with local community members. Even though she initially positioned Puerto Ricans outside of her heritage community, she connected with many of them through their shared linguistic self-doubt: Field note, 03–27–18 Lexi:

She also had an experience that helped her to work through what she calls her “self-doubt.” She traveled and worked primarily with another student who didn’t speak any Spanish – so she ended up doing all of the translation, interpretation, and conducting most of the interviews in Spanish. She explained that even though most of the Puerto Ricans that they encountered were bilingual and even sounded like “native speakers” when they spoke to her in English, the moment that they asked them to do the interview in English, they panicked and became noticeably nervous. Despite their ability to communicate in the language, they often requested that the interview be carried out in Spanish. She saw herself in them and could relate to what they were going through because she feels the same when speaking Spanish.

Through this experience, Penélope overcame her self-doubt by empathizing with Spanish speakers who also experienced self-doubt when speaking a language in which they do not feel entirely confident. Given that this project was for an English-language journalism class, not all the students were bilingual and could communicate with community

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members in Puerto Rico. Due to these circumstances, Penélope was positioned as the Linguistic Expert within her specific team and was responsible for facilitating and bridging communication for those Puerto Ricans who did not speak or feel comfortable speaking English. Once again, despite not being an intentional component of the English journalism or SSP program curriculum, Penélope engaged in identity work that aided in the transformation of her HL from a private, family language to an acceptable, public language for both personal and professional uses. This type of identity work is also linked to one of the main goals of HL pedagogy – goals that were not explicitly accounted for in the SSP program. Considering the different affective and educational needs of HL and L2 learners, scholars have established specific goals for HL pedagogy. In 1995 and 2005, Valdés introduced six goals for HL instruction (goals 1–4 and 5–6, respectively), later extended by Aparicio (1997) to include a seventh goal summarized in Figure 4.1. Language maintenance is considered collectively the primary goal of HL pedagogy. This is based on the belief that HL learners who view their variety as valid and perceive themselves as having a strong proficiency in the language are more likely to continue transmitting the HL within their families and communities (Beaudrie et  al., 2014). As such, the theoretical underpinnings of goals two through seven support this positive self-perception in overcoming insecurity and stigma (Parodi, 2008). To promote language maintenance, the collaboration of a variety of social actors is needed, such as other students, teachers, community members, and family members (Draper & Hicks, 2000). In the case of Penélope, however, no purposeful pedagogical intervention cultivated the circumstances in which she and key social actors would

FIGURE 4.1 Seven Goals of Heritage Language Pedagogy (Adapted from Beaudrie

et al., 2014, p. 59)

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collaborate in social discourses to overcome insecurity and stigma. Rather, the linguistic circumstances of her professional partnership with monolingual speakers of English would encourage such collaboration during her trip to Puerto Rico. As the only bilingual student on her team, she was again assigned the position of Language Broker out of the need to facilitate communication between her colleagues and their Spanish-speaking interlocutors. However, unlike her reluctance to take on such a role during her childhood, she owned her linguistic abilities and transformed this position into that of Professional Bilingual Journalist. While positioning herself as a Professional Bilingual Journalist within various discursive events, there were cases in which she perceived that the interviewees had high to even native-like proficiency in English. Despite these abilities, they became visibly uncomfortable when asked to participate in an interview in English. Her interlocutors’ feelings of self-doubt seemed to influence their decision to avoid using English and instead request that the interviews be conducted in the language in which they felt more comfortable. Even though her interlocutors experienced self-doubt about their linguistic abilities in English and not Spanish, Penélope was able to connect with their fear of using a language. She, too, had experienced this emotion, which derived in part from her own self-doubt and linguistic self-consciousness. Specifically, this fear was linked to being assigned a position as an Incompetent and Illegitimate Speaker. Inspired by this realization, she decided she would work to overcome her self-doubt during the semester – a personal goal that many HL learners set for themselves on their path to language maintenance (Beaudrie & Ducar, 2005). During this trip, Penélope’s Puerto Rican interlocutors became collaborative social actors who helped her validate her experiences and linguistic abilities in her HL. Reflect and Regret Based on Language Ideologies

Her experiences of overcoming self-doubt prompted her to reflect on the linguistic journeys of others around her, specifically regarding her brother and mother. While reflecting on the origins of her self-doubt, Penélope described how she saw her own stigmatized HL variety mirrored in her sibling’s discourse. She shared how she would make fun of him and critique his use of Spanish while they were growing up, which may have impacted his decision to continue learning and using the language. Field note, 03–27–18 Lexi:

Penélope shared that her older brother’s proficiency in Spanish is “pretty low” and that she has always made fun of him. Growing up, she would say, “You’re saying that wrong.” Thinking back on this, she feels this may have discouraged him from continuing to learn Spanish – to have someone bring you down instead of lifting you up and encouraging you.

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This statement contrasted starkly with how she presented their relationship initially during our first interview. At this time, she stated that her brother’s Spanish was “horrible” and shared how she would often “correct” him. Interview, 02–17–18 Penélope: My brother’s Spanish is horrible. And he’ll say something wrong, and I’ll correct him. And I’m like, “Dude, I’m only trying And I’m like, “Dude, I’m only trying to help you. I don’t want to help you. No quiero que te veas you to look stupid. I’m just trycomo un mensito. I’m just trying ing to help you.” to help you.” And it’s so bad because my older brother, he’s more like a serious, not fun guy, [he] gets mad really easily. And it just slips out. He’ll say something wrong, and I’ll He’ll say something wrong, and be like, “No se dice así, se dice así. I’ll be like, “You don’t say it like Oh my God.” this, you say it like that. Oh my God.” But I just can’t help it because if I’m making a mistake, please correct me.

Penélope’s remarks are paralleled by her experience in Puerto Rico, where being around less competent speakers strengthened her perception of her linguistic abilities. In this case, because of her own self-doubt and self-­ consciousness in the HL, she utilized negative emotive words to refer to both her brother’s linguistic abilities and general affect: Interview, 02–17–18 Penélope: My brother’s Spanish is horrible. And he’ll say something wrong, and I’ll correct him. And I’m like, “Dude, I’m only trying to And I’m like, “Dude, I’m only trying to help you. help you. No quiero que te veas como I don’t want you to look un mensito. I’m just trying to help stupid. I’m just trying to you.” help you.”

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(Continued) And it’s so bad because my older brother, he’s more like a serious, not fun guy, [he] gets mad really easily. And it just slips out. He’ll say something wrong, and I’ll be like, “No se dice así, se dice así. Oh my God.”

He’ll say something wrong, and I’ll be like, “You don’t say it like this, you say it like that. Oh my God.”

But I just can’t help it because if I’m making a mistake, please correct me.

In this excerpt, Penélope explained that even though he would get mad with her corrections, she ignored the affective influence her actions may have had on him and instead attributed his anger to his personality. She justified her explicit error correction through various lenses, one being that she was helping him. She also rationalized this practice as a way to protect him from ridicule and being perceived socially as a “mensito” (stupid) due to his HL variety. Finally, she applied the reasoning that she would want someone to correct her if she had made a mistake. Given that this seemed to be a radical change in perception, I asked her to reflect on her viewpoint during our final interview. Penélope did not change her opinion of her family members’ linguistic proficiency. However, through the experiences that her internship and courses afforded her, she began to develop linguistic empathy for her brother’s journey with Spanish and her parents’ journeys with English. Interview, 05–04–18 Penélope:

My brother’s Spanish is horrible. . . . He’s two years older than me and when I was two, I spoke more than he did and he was four. Speaking, in general, is not his strong suit, whereas, for me, it is. So, I think I’ve just always kind of had this hierarchy of like, “I’m the best Spanish speaker, blah-blah-blah.” But then, after taking Spanish classes and getting my ass handed to me and like, “Oh shit! I have stuff to work on, too.” (Continued)

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(Continued) Even if it was with my mom . . . whenever she’ll try to say something in English, I’m like, “Mom, no se dice así.”

Even if it was with my mom . . . whenever she’ll try to say something in English, I’m like, “Mom, that’s not how you say it.”

I feel like I kind of make fun of her, like teasing her a little bit. And I feel like that’s discouraging . . . I feel like, as I get older and hopefully wiser, I just kind of realize that it can affect – or make them have a lower self-esteem rather than help them and motivate them.

In addition to her time in Puerto Rico, she experienced challenges in her Spanish courses that prompted her to reflect on the effect that her negative discourse had on her family’s motivation to continue developing their respective languages. To illustrate this point, Penélope affirmed that she still believed her brother’s Spanish was “horrible.” Still, instead of connecting it to his “errors” in the HL, she associated his low proficiency with a more global skill. She stated that “speaking” had never been one of her older brother’s strengths (e.g., utilizing “correct” grammar), no matter the language. Even at the young age of two, Penélope felt her linguistic abilities in both languages were more highly developed than her brother’s skills. She believed this led her to position herself as a more skilled (Spanish) speaker in this specific private, at-home context despite feeling inferior to other speakers in more public and professional settings. Despite being G2s and experiencing the effects of language ideologies and social pressures, both she and her brother had their own strengths and weaknesses with their shared HL. In the same interview where Penélope reflected on her brother’s linguistic proficiency, she also recalled how she had treated her mother. Like many G1s, her mother had immigrated to the U.S. as a monolingual adult (Beaudrie et  al., 2014; Silva-Corvalán, 1994). As a stay-at-home mother, she continued to communicate primarily with her husband and children in her native language, Spanish. Although she developed receptive English skills, she never felt comfortable speaking this language. Penélope remembered that when her mother did try to utilize the socially dominant English language, she would often correct her in a teasing manner. However, Penélope now demonstrated her linguistic empathy for her mother’s immigration and language learning journey by recognizing that her error correction technique

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may have discouraged her and lowered her self-esteem. She realized that what her mother needed was someone to motivate her. (Re)Claiming a Mexican-American Identity

Throughout her internship and SSP coursework, Penélope was able to empathize with the linguistic journeys that different family members had experienced. Penélope also began to reflect on her own linguistic journey and how she presented herself professionally and personally. Due to the stigmatization of her HL variety and culture in her hometown, Penélope distanced herself personally from her Mexican roots. One of the reasons for which she distanced herself professionally from her ethnicity was due to stereotypes about Mexican reporters who only focus on issues of immigration, such as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). Interview, 05–04–18 Penélope:

During the beginning of the semester, there was some drama going on between Frontier News and el Reportaje, and the point being, there was this girl that was talking about, “Oh, all Penélope does is DACA, DACA, DACA. Do you do anything else?” And those comments hurt because one of the reasons that I didn’t want to do Spanish was because I didn’t want to be the typical Mexican reporter that everybody would expect. So, those comments ­genuinely hurt me, affected me.

During this interview, Penélope referred to some “drama” between Frontier News (one of the beats at the Phoenix Report) and the Phoenix Reportaje at the beginning of the semester. Penélope became the center of one of the attacks when a fellow student made remarks criticizing the subject range of Penélope’s professional work. According to this student, Penélope only focused on issues related to DACA. Although these allegations were untrue, they were hurtful as they pointed to a larger issue within the School of Journalism that she had internalized: the stereotype that Spanish-language journalism serves only as a venue to explore issues of immigration. Commitment to the Spanish-language Market Through Overcoming Stereotypes

As described previously in Chapter  1, Penélope and María reported that, despite being housed within the same school, they perceived being treated differently than their colleagues working at the Phoenix Report. These differences were due to a lack of resources, institutional isolation resulting from social inequities and discriminatory institutional policies, and issues of

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personal security. Penélope also shared that many of the students were unfamiliar with the Phoenix Reportaje even though this team was not a separate program, but simply part of the Borderland beat within the Phoenix Report. Although the Phoenix Reportaje did focus on issues of immigration, as these issues are important to the Hispanic/Latinx community, they also focused on a variety of other issues, such as sports, music, food, advocacy, and community engagement, among others. Having been a part of the School of Journalism her first two years at Southwestern University, Penélope was aware that the Phoenix Reportaje was often pegged as being synonymous with the Borderland beat. In turn, she reported this as another reason she hesitated to seek a career in the ­Spanish-language market. She did not want to be labeled as a “typical Mexican reporter” who only focused on issues of immigration. Despite her fear of being cast as a stereotypical Mexican reporter, as Penélope began taking SSP courses and engaging with the local Hispanic/Latinx community via her internship, she committed to a career as a Spanish-language journalist. Video Diary, Week 5 I think that this experience [the Penélope: Creo que esta experiencia [la internship] has verified and pasantía] me ha verificado y me helped me to decide and know ha ayudado mucho a decidirme that I do want to be a reporter y a saber que sí quiero ser una for a Hispanic community, in reportera para una comunidad de hispana, en el español. Esto es algo Spanish. This is something that I had barely considered since last que es apenas había considerado desde el semestre pasado. Creo que semester. I think that it’s different, because when I first came to the es algo diferente, porque cuando university, I did have my major in primeramente vine a la universiSpanish, but I thought that I was dad, sí tenía mi especialidad en el going to do the news stories in español, pero pensaba que iba a English. hacer los reportajes en el inglés. Pero después de tomarme un curso But after taking a course where I did a little bit more of donde hice un poquito más del periodismo en español – me ­journalism in Spanish – I loved encantó poder comunicarme y being able to communicate and ayudar a la comunidad de hispana help the Hispanic community y a ofrecer reportajes que verdad- and offer news stories that eramente puedan ser un beneficio can truly be a benefit to these para estas comunidades. Me ­communities. I loved it so much. encantó mucho. Entonces, por So, because of this, I decided to eso me decidí irme por hacer el go for ­journalism in Spanish and periodismo español y el Phoenix the Phoenix Report. I have loved Reportaje. Me ha encantado todo everything that I’ve done. lo que he hecho.

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(Continued) I think that it has definitely Yo creo que definitivamente ha strengthened my commitment fortalecido mi compromiso para seguir haciendo un periodismo al to continue doing journalism in español, porque me encanta poder Spanish, because I love to be able to speak with different people hablar con diferentes personas y and get to know their story. conocer su historia. Porque creo que, compartiendo la cultura con Because I think that, sharing the culture with many of these muchas de esas personas, como people, there’s like a different que hay una conexión diferente, connection, that perhaps I didn’t que a lo mejor no sentía cuando feel when I was doing journalism estaba haciendo periodismo en in English. el inglés.

Once again, her SSP internship experience and coursework afforded her the opportunity to engage in interactions with her heritage community, providing her with opportunities to overcome the fear of being stereotyped as a “typical Mexican that doesn’t care” and a “typical Mexican reporter.” As part of this journey, Penélope explained how she began to (re)claim her ­Mexican-American identity, both personally and professionally: Interview, 05–04–18 Penélope:

I feel like when I came to Arizona – Even when I was in high school, I started hanging out more or talking more with the kids that speak Spanish and stuff. I just realized that I can’t just hide the fact that I’m Mexican. And I can’t just distance myself from “those” Mexicans. I think that I just really started to get the mentality that, “Okay. I’m going to do what I can to make people change that stereotype and change that mindset that they might have.”

Before high school, Penélope used to avoid using Spanish in public, and avoid partaking in interactions with Mexicans/Mexican-Americans so as not to be positioned by others as a member of this group. In this specific passage, Penélope’s choice to refer to her classmates as “those Mexicans” illustrated how, despite belonging to the same macro-level ethnic group (Mexican), she blurred the boundaries between macro- and micro-elements by distinguishing different levels of “Mexicanness” within her community. In doing so, she exploited “intersections of race, gender, and socioeconomic class to position [herself] and [her] peers along a racial continuum from less to more ­Mexican” (O’Connor, 2016, p. 131). Specifically, this distinction represents

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the semiotic process Irvine and Gal (2000) call fractal recursivity in their model of how language ideologies are constructed and represented. This process involves the “projection of an opposition, salient at some level of relationship, onto some other level” (p. 38). Through implementing this process as a discursive tool, Penélope, a Mexican-American woman, created a spectrum of “Mexicanness” through which she attempted to escape the negative perception of this group by positioning herself as “less” Mexican. Yet, her relative position on this spectrum began to change over time. In shifting her positionality to this community, her social perceptions regarding her heritage community also began to change. As she interacted with “those Mexicans,” Penélope decided to utilize her agency as a language learner by choosing not to disassociate from Mexicans/Mexican-Americans. In choosing to align herself more closely with this community, she decided to leverage her position as a Legitimate and Bilingual Mexican-American Journalist to disparage the negative stereotypes and discourse surrounding her heritage community. She did so despite the risk of being stereotyped as the “typical Mexican reporter” who only covered DACA-related stories. Phonetic Positioning

One way in which Penélope began to embrace her identity as a legitimate Spanish speaker and Mexican-American woman was through (re)claiming her name. In our first interview, Penélope told me about how the newscast supervisor of Frontier News had become her mentor, and the two shared similar experiences. Although this supervisor worked primarily with Frontier News, one of the beats housed within the Phoenix Report, they often utilized their professional skills and proficiency in Spanish to collaborate with the Phoenix Reportaje team. Before becoming a faculty member at the School of Journalism, the supervisor worked as a well-known broadcaster. Born in the United States and of Hispanic/Latinx descent, like Penélope, they had experienced growing up between different communities across a transnational social field. As described in Chapter 1, while in this position, they received criticism from viewers for maintaining the phonetic pronunciation of words like Guadalupe and Nogales in Spanish, another example of the monolingual hegemony present in Arizona. Penélope described that through shared experiences, she felt she could relate to this particular supervisor and would seek out their counsel regarding identity issues. One such issue was how Penélope should present herself, both personally and professionally, depending on the language in which the encounter took place. She explained this linguistic dilemma as, “Whenever I’m doing something in English, am I Penelope [English phonology]? When I’m doing something in Spanish, am I Penélope [Spanish phonology]?” (Interview 02–17–18). Being that the theme of the phonetic pronunciation of her name

Penelope or Penélope?  127

continued to come up throughout the semester, I asked her how she felt about this in our last interview. She shared feeling more validated to call herself Penélope and had come to see the pronunciation of Penelope as disrespectful to her parents. Interview, 05–04–18 Penélope:

Right now, I think I’m 80% Penélope and 20% Penelope . . . I don’t know if I told you, but in one of our first newscasts, it was me and my friend anchoring, and he said, “Ahora le paso esto a mi compañera, Penelope.”

“And now I’ll pass it over to my colleague, Penelope.”

He said, “Penelope.” It’s a stupid thing, but honestly, you don’t know how offended I was. . . . And after he said it, too, right when we finished, he was like, “I’m sorry I said Penelope.” I feel like that validated me more. Because I was like, you know what, there’s a huge difference between pronouncing my vowels. Especially because I feel like . . . Penelope, it could be a different name . . . I still feel like that emphasis to be like, “No, my name is Penélope.” Whenever I meet somebody, whether it’d be that be like a new friend or somebody in a special setting, I do say Penélope. Like, “No, I’m Penélope.” I feel like now, if I would say “Penelope,” it would kind of be like a disrespect in a way to like my parents. Because, like, I know they did not go into that hospital thinking, “Okay, esta niñita, Penelope.”

Because, like, I know they did not go into that hospital thinking, “Okay, this little girl Penelope.”

Penélope shared how she was beginning to accept and claim a position within her heritage community despite still grappling with her bilingual identity. She also began to take up her Mexican-American ethnicity and HL as an integral component of her professional and personal identities. By the end of

128  Penelope or Penélope?

the semester, when she needed to introduce herself, whether in a personal or more specialized setting, she consciously decided to (re)claim her MexicanAmerican identity by utilizing Spanish phonology for “Penélope.” In addition to embracing her identity through her HL language, she also explained that she felt as though presenting herself as “Penélope” demonstrated respect for her parents, as the name they gave her at birth was intended to be presented through their shared language of Spanish. Implications for EX-LL/LSP Pedagogy and Internship Design

Like María and Petra’s journeys, the unique ways in which Penélope engaged in linguistic-, ethnic-, and racial-based identity work that transcended the goals of the SSP program point to implications for experiential language learning (EX-LL)/languages for specific purposes (LSP) pedagogy and internship design. Penélope’s journey specifically highlights the need for programs to (i) incorporate heritage language pedagogy from a critical perspective. Her journey, along with María’s and Petra’s, also points to the necessity for programs to (ii) foster opportunities for linguistic-, ethnic-, and racial-related identity work. Incorporating Heritage Language Pedagogy From a Critical Perspective

In Chapter 2, an implication for EX-LL/LSP pedagogy and internship design was to incorporate instruction appropriate for all language learners and users, including HLs, nonlocal NSs, and L2s with connection to target language communities. Penélope’s identity work reiterates this point, emphasizing the unique instructional and affective needs of HL students. For example, many HL learners, like Penélope, may have acquired a stigmatized U.S. variety and experience insecurity stemming from negative interactions with their communities and monolingual speakers (Parodi, 2008). To support our HL learners, EX-LL/LSP curriculum and program design must incorporate pedagogies, methodologies, and practices that consider these students’ specific needs, support their language maintenance, and foster opportunities for supported identity work. Therefore, the first implication is for program developers and educators to become familiar with HL pedagogy, including the seven goals previously discussed, and incorporate HL pedagogical practices into their classrooms and programs. In doing so, a second implication is for program developers and educators to familiarize themselves with how HL learners’ acquisitional journeys may differ from other learners and the hegemonic ideologies often put on them. Not only can this inform their instruction, but educators can utilize this information to create opportunities for HL learners (and their

Penelope or Penélope?  129

classmates) to engage in critical reflection. This type of instruction is crucial as, although language maintenance is the primary goal of HL pedagogy, it is “not feasible unless HL students become critically aware of the hegemonic ideologies that shape their societal language experiences and practices and are able to contest them in their multilingual/bilingual language practices” (Beaudrie, 2023). For this reason, there is the precedence of engaging HL students in critical reflection regarding language ideologies within social and institutional contexts. Researchers (e.g., Beaudrie et al., 2019; Holguín Mendoza, 2018; Leeman, 2005; Leeman  & Serafini, 2016; Martínez, 2003) have called for and proposed methods to incorporate such critical pedagogical practices into the HL classroom via critical language awareness. As an example, Martínez (2003) was one of the first researchers to suggest using classroom-based dialect awareness that takes a critical perspective on the power structures and biases that accompany the standard and fosters the value of the variations of HL learners. Although different, these proposals seek to address the following common learning goals: 1) Students will view language variation as natural and recognize the intrinsic value of their own variety and all others; 2) Students will develop a consciousness of the political, social, and economic power structures that underlie language use and the distribution of the so-called prestige and non-prestige varieties; 3) Students will uncover dominant language ideologies that hide in daily monolingual/bilingual practices; 4) Students will be empowered to exercise agency in making their own decisions about language use and bilingualism (Beaudrie, 2023, pp. 1–2). Incorporating practices of critical language awareness will not only foster HL students to maintain their language but can also aid in the linguistic-, ethnic-, and racial-related identity work in which they may engage while participating in EX-LL inside and outside the program. Fostering Opportunities for Linguistic-, Ethnic-, and Racial-related Identity Work

Regarding identity work, each intern grappled with experiences that went beyond the surface of simply utilizing Spanish to carry out a professional task. Instead, they navigated issues of identity related to language, ethnicity, and race within power structures. Given that we know students will engage in this type of work, EX-LL/LSP programs must go beyond focusing solely on the more traditionally taught constructs of communicative competence

130  Penelope or Penélope?

(e.g., grammatical knowledge) and expand their reach to foster opportunities for linguistic-, ethnic-, and racial-related identity work. For example, Penélope began to tease apart the language ideologies she had internalized throughout her life as a Mexican-American woman, G2 immigrant, and HL learner. Although much of this work was done internally, Penélope identified and created professional relationships of support with strong figures present at her internship – specifically, the newscast supervisors of the Phoenix Reportaje and Frontier News. Petra and María, on the other hand, did not have a support system to aid them in engaging in their identity work during their internships. As such, they faced this work in solitude that potentially could have been mediated by supportive allies. While Petra worked through racialized moments as a Black L2 Spanish speaker across different contexts alone, María’s journey was centered around her position as a nonlocal NS in a speech community very different from hers. Without aid in fostering her puertorriqueñidad as an element of her professional identity, she internalized hegemonic language ideologies in support of an academic standard in response to the fear of losing her ethnic identity. Considering the interns’ experiences, it is necessary for EX-LL/LSP students to engage in a curriculum where they raise their critical awareness, explore (with support) their own positionalities in various communities, and understand how their interlocutors’ own perceptions may come to bear in social discourses. Although the curriculum may focus on their language use (i.e., critical language awareness), it may also traverse other areas such as race, ethnicity, politics, society, and economics. Such a curriculum does align naturally with implementing critical language awareness in the field of HL pedagogy. For example, Parra (2016) writes, The purposes of our profession comprise engaging students in deep reflections to raise their critical awareness around important and sensitive issues such as language ideologies and the power structures that have shaped students’ beliefs about their own languages, cultures, and identities. (pp. 166–167) A framework that would serve as an appropriate foundation for such a curriculum is Critical Applied Linguistics (CALx) (Pennycook, 2001). As outlined in the Preface, this framework creates a space in which researchers, program developers, educators, and students can critically explore the relationship between language use and power structures within society and, in doing so, call for social reformation from an interdisciplinary approach. This type of curriculum that focuses on fostering students’ critical awareness and identity work from a CALx perspective could serve as a medium to support students in understanding and constructing their identities and positionalities across different storylines as part of both their personal and professional lives

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inside and outside of the United States. The “Takeaways and Points for Continued Reflection” throughout the book provide topics and questions that could be incorporated into the curriculum. Furthermore, Chapter 6 provides frameworks and practices (e.g., reflexivity, positionality) that could also lend themselves to such a curriculum. Takeaways and Points for Continued Reflection

In this chapter, we have discussed Penélope’s journey in engaging in identity work across discursive events related to (i) journalism as a bridge to family and community, (ii) development of (linguistic) empathy for generational journeys, and (iii) (re)claiming a Mexican-American identity. The following “Takeaways and Points for Continued Reflection” are offered to help you reflect on your EX-LL/LSP programs and apply information to support language learners as they engage in EX-LL and interact with others.

Takeaways and Points for Continued Reflection • Do some research and reflection on the dominant language ideologies in your university and community. ○ Have you internalized any of these ideologies? ○ How do any of these ideologies affect you? How have they affected you in the past? • Brainstorm how you can incorporate your knowledge of HL pedagogy into the SSP program and your own practice to support students’ identity work. ○ How are you or can you incorporate the seven goals of HL pedagogy into your classroom and the larger SSP program? ○ Are your students aware of stigmatized varieties of Spanish and why they are stigmatized? Have they experienced discrimination or been judged by others for their variety? • Does your SSP program offer instruction for all types of language learners and users (i.e., L2, HL, NS, nonlocal NS)? ○ If not, what support or professional training can be provided to faculty to incorporate instruction for all language learners and users? • Does your SSP program offer support for all language learners and users? ○ What type of mentor programs does or could your program implement to ­support students?

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Note 1 Through the establishment of the Bracero Program, implemented during the 1940s and 1950s, “Mexican agricultural workers were legally permitted to temporarily enter the United States to work” (Bickerton, 2000, p. 895).

Reference List Aparicio, F. R. (1997). La enseñanza del español para hispanohablantes y la pedagogía multicultural. In C. Colombi  & F. X. Alarcón (Eds.), La enseñanza del español a hispanohablantes: Praxis y teoría (pp. 222–232). Houghton Mifflin. Bachman, L. F., & Palmer, A. S. (1996). Language testing in practice. Oxford University Press. Beaudrie, S. (2023). Developing critical language awareness in the heritage language classroom: Implementation and assessment in diverse educational contexts. Languages, 8(81), 1–6. Beaudrie, S., Amezcua, A.,  & Loza, S. (2019). Critical language awareness for the heritage language context: Development and validation of a measurement questionnaire. Language Testing, 36, 573–594. Beaudrie, S., & Ducar, C. (2005). Beginning level university heritage programs: Creating a space for all heritage language learners. Heritage Language Journal, 3(1), 1–26. Beaudrie, S., Ducar, C., & Potowski, K. (2014). Heritage language teaching: Research and practice. McGraw Hill. Bickerton, M. E. (2000). Prospects for a bilateral immigration agreement with Mexico: Lessons from the Bracero Program. Texas Law Review, 79, 895–919. Bills, G. D., & Vigil, N. A. (2008). The Spanish language of New Mexico and Colorado: A linguistic atlas. University of New Mexico Press. Buesa, O. T.,  & Enguita Utrilla, J. M. (1992). Léxico del español de América: Su elemento patrimonial e indígena. Editorial Mafre. Draper, J., & Hicks, J. (2000). Where we’ve been; What we’ve learned. In J. Webb & B. Miller (Eds.), Teaching heritage language learners: Voices from the classroom (pp. 15–35). ACTFL. El-Haj, T. R. A. (2015). Unsettled belonging: Educating Palestinian American youth after 9/11. University of Chicago Press. Foolen, A. (2012). The relevance of emotion for language and linguistics. In A. Foolen, U. M. Lüdtke, T. P. Racine, & J. Zlatev (Eds.), Moving ourselves, moving others: Motion and emotion in intersubjectivity, consciousness and language (pp. 349–369). John Benjamins Publishing Company. Holguín Mendoza, C. (2018). Critical Language Awareness (CLA) for Spanish heritage language programs: Implementing a complete curriculum. International Journal of Multilingualism, 12, 65–79. Irvine, J. T.,  & Gal, S. (2000). Language ideology and linguistic differentiation. In P. V. Kroskrity (Ed.), Regimes of language: Ideologies, polities, and identities (pp. 35–84). School of American Research Press. Leeman, J. (2005). Engaging critical pedagogy: Spanish for native speakers. Foreign Language Annals, 38(1), 35–45. Leeman, J., Rabin, L., & Román-Mendoza, E. (2011). Critical pedagogy beyond the classroom walls: Community service-learning and Spanish heritage language education. Heritage Language Journal, 8(3), 1–22.

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Leeman, J., & Serafini, E. (2016). Sociolinguistics for heritage language educators and students: A model for critical translingual competence. In M. Fairclough & S. Beaudrie (Eds.), Innovative approaches in heritage language teaching: From research to practice (pp. 56–79). Georgetown University Press. Loza, S. (2017). Transgressing standard language ideologies in the Spanish Heritage Language (SHL) classroom. Chiricú Journal: Latina/o Literatures, Arts, and Cultures, 1(2), 56–77. Martínez, G. A. (2003). Classroom based dialect awareness in heritage language instruction: A  critical applied linguistic approach. Heritage Language Journal, 1(1), 1–14. O’Connor, B. H. (2016). Racializing discourse in public and private: Social differentiation and the question of Mexicanness at an Arizona high school. Anthropology & Education Quarterly, 47(2), 130–147. Orozco Jutorán, M., & Vargas-Urpí, M. (2022). Children and teenagers acting as language brokers: The perception of teachers at secondary schools. Across Languages and Cultures, 23(1), 14–35. Parodi, C. (2008). Stigmatized Spanish inside the classroom and out: A  model of language teaching to heritage speakers. In D. M. Brinton et  al. (Eds.), Heritage language education: A new field emerging (pp. 199–214). Routledge. Parra, M. L. (2016). Understanding identity among Spanish heritage learners: An interdisciplinary endeavor. In D. Pascual y Cabo (Ed.), Advances in Spanish as a heritage language (pp. 177–204). John Benjamins Publishing Company. Pascual y Cabo, D., & Rothman, J. (2012). The (il)logical problem of heritage speaker bilingualism and incomplete acquisition. Applied Linguistics, 33(4), 450–455. Pennycook, A. (2001). Critical applied linguistics: A critical introduction. Routledge. Richardson, C., & Pisani, M. J. (2017). Batos, bolillos, pochos, and pelados: Class and culture on the South Texas border. University of Texas Press. Ruíz, R. (1984). Orientations in language planning. NABE Journal, 8(2), 15–34. Sánchez-Muñoz, A. (2013). Who soy yo? The creative use of “Spanglish” to express a hybrid identity in Chicana/o heritage language learners of Spanish. Hispania, 96(3), 440–441. Sánchez-Muñoz, A. (2016). Heritage language healing? Learners’ attitudes and damage control in a heritage language classroom. In D. Pascual y Cabo (Ed.), Advances in Spanish as a heritage language (pp.  205–220). John Benjamins Publishing Company. Silva-Corvalán, C. (1994). Language contact and change: Spanish in Los Angeles. Oxford University Press. Valdés, G. (1995). The teaching of minority languages as ‘foreign; languages: Pedagogical and theoretical challenges. Modern Language Journal, 79(3), 299–328. Valdés, G. (2000). Introduction. In AATSP professional development series handbook for teachers K-16. Vol. 1: Spanish for native speakers (pp. 1–20). American Association for Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese. Valdés, G. (2005). Bilingualism, heritage language learners, and SLA research: Opportunities lost or seized? The Modern Language Journal, 89(3), 410–426. Zentella, A. C. (2008). Preface. In M. Niño-Murcia & J. Rothman (Eds.), Bilingualism and identity (pp. 3–9). John Benjamins.

5 STRATEGIC KNOWLEDGE IN PROFESSIONAL DISCOURSE Innovative Communicative Strategies and Their Social Functions

Introduction

Imagine you are a student engaging in a languages for specific purposes (LSP) internship in which you speak with real community members in a language that may be your second, heritage, or native language. You are working with people who come from different places, have different cultures and experiences, and speak different linguistic variations. On top of this, you are working to facilitate interactions or services to these diverse individuals in a specific professional area with its own lexicon. In doing so, you would inevitably experience breakdowns in communication with your interlocutors. Even in everyday life outside of experiential language learning (EX-LL) experiences, we face breakdowns in communication. A breakdown in communication is not necessarily a bad thing. It does not automatically signal an individual is incompetent or call out a failure. Having said this, if we want to successfully carry out our goal of facilitating interaction or services with our interlocutors, we must have effective communication skills to overcome these breakdowns. This leads to the questions: What do we do in these situations to overcome the breakdown and why do we do it? Just like in this hypothetical situation I have asked you to put yourself in, during their Spanish for specific purposes (SSP) internships, María, Petra, and Penélope were required to utilize the target language of Spanish (and sometimes English) to facilitate interactions and services with community members and other social actors. As a naturally occurring component of this experience, each intern faced breakdowns in communication. In response,

DOI: 10.4324/9781003257141-5

Strategic Knowledge in Professional Discourse  135

they employed their strategic knowledge through various communication strategies (CSs) to overcome the breakdowns. Not only did the CSs play a role in mediating their learning and ability to complete tasks, but they also served as essential social functions related to the linguistic-, ethnic-, and racial-based identity work in which the interns engaged. Strategic Knowledge: A Brief Review

As described in Chapter 1, strategic knowledge is defined as “a set of metacognitive processes or strategies, which can be thought of as higher order executive processes that provide a cognitive management function in language use, as well as other cognitive activities” (Bachman & Palmer, 1996, p.  70). Throughout research in second language acquisition (SLA)/applied linguistics (AL), this construct has been operationalized through a focus on CSs “used by [second language learners] in a conscious attempt to bridge a perceived communication gap, either caused by the learner’s lack of L2 knowledge (resource deficit), problems with his or her own performance or problems resulting from interaction with an interlocutor” (Lafford, 2004, p. 204). Although second-language (L2) learners are an important population, the development of strategic knowledge is not unique to this group. As mentioned in our hypothetical situation, other language users, often categorized as heritage language (HL) learners and native speakers (NSs) (Dörnyei, 1995a, 1995b; Lafford, 1995), also employ these metacognitive processes during discursive events to assist them in successful communication. Yes, even the NSs who are so often idolized utilize various discursive strategies to “maintain and develop the conversation in a communicative situation” (Lafford, 1995, p. 104). The findings of this literature were brought to life as our three interns, who could be classified as an L2, HL, and nonlocal NS, utilized CSs to overcome breakdowns in communication during two types of encounters: (i) in situ (spontaneous) and (ii) premeditative (opportunities to plan before engaging in real-time communication). Communicative Strategies During in situ Encounters

During their SSP internships, María, Petra,1 and Penélope were each required to utilize Spanish to engage in spontaneous conversations (i.e., in situ encounters) with community members, colleagues, and other social actors throughout spaces in the community. While engaging in these in situ encounters, they employed various CSs upon experiencing breakdowns in communication. Table  5.1 outlines the CSs each intern employed by type and observation.

Intern

Petra

Observation

Obs. 1

Obs. 2

Obs. 3

Obs. 1

Obs. 2

Obs. 3

Obs. 1

Obs. 2

Obs. 3

n = 4

n = 3 1

n = 4

n = 0

n = 0

n = 6

n = 1

n = 3

n = 0

CS Type Resource Deficit Approximation Circumlocution Circumlocution via gesture* Fillers Fillers for ­stalling to use Google Translate* Foreignizing Message abandonment Omission Restructuring (Message replacement) Translang­uaging*2 Own-­Performance Problems Comprehension check Own-accuracy check Self-repair

Penélope

María

1 1 5

1

1

1

2 2 2 1

1 1

1 n = 0

n = 0

n = 0

n = 1

n = 0

n = 1 1

1

n = 0

n = 1 1

n = 0

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TABLE 5.1  Interns’ Use of Communicative Strategies During in situ Encounters

Other-Performance Problems Asking for confirmation Expressing nonunderstanding Feigning understanding (via gestures) Self-repetition

n = 1 1

n = 2

Mediation by Technology as an Artifact* Google for cultural mediation* Google Translate*

n = 0

Total CSs

n = 6 n = 6 TOTAL = 18

n = 0

n = 0

n = 0

n = 1

n = 2 1

n = 1

n = 0

1

1

1

n = 0

n = 0

n = 0

n = 0

n = 0

n = 1 n = 0 TOTAL = 9

n = 8

n = 3 n = 5 TOTAL = 8

n = 0

1 1 n = 1 1

n = 2

n = 0

2

Strategic Knowledge in Professional Discourse  137

*  Asterisk indicates new CS category I am proposing

n = 6

138  Strategic Knowledge in Professional Discourse

As illustrated in Table  5.1, there are four categories of CSs that María, Petra, and Penélope implemented: 1) Resource Deficit Strategies: “gaps in speakers’ knowledge preventing them from verbalizing messages” (Lafford, 2004, p. 203). 2) Own-Performance Problems: the “realization that something one has said is incorrect or only partly correct, associated with various types of self-repair, self-rephrasing, and self-editing mechanisms” (Lafford, 2004, p. 203). 3) Other-Performance Problems: “something perceived as problematic in the interlocutor’s speech, either because it is thought to be incorrect (or highly unexpected) or because of a lack (or uncertainty) of understanding something fully, associated with various negotiation of meaning strategies” (Lafford, 2004, p. 203). 4) Mediation by Technology as an Artifact: technology-based tools in one’s environment that permit cognition and are utilized to bridge and prevent breakdowns in communication. Definitions sound good, but what do these categories “look like” in actual discursive events? Let us review examples for each CS category, the specific CSs observed, and the social functions of the interns’ choices in strategies. As will be exemplified, the interns often utilized a combination of CSs to bridge gaps in communication.

Resource Deficit Strategies Approximation

Approximation is a resource deficit-based strategy that refers to a “single alternative lexical item, such as a superordinate or a related term, which shares semantic features (e.g., synonym or antonym) with the target word or structure” (Lafford, 2004, p. 222). One example of this strategy comes from a visit in which Petra was interpreting for Josefina, whom we met in Chapter 1. Josefina was a 52-year-old female patient with whom Petra had previously worked. She had been diagnosed with paralysis when she was younger, and it had recently flared back up, leading to visual impairment and the inability to move and feel areas of her face. Since experiencing these symptoms, she had been visiting the Phoenix Community Clinic for continued follow-up care. While completing the medical history intake, Petra implemented the CS of approximation to compensate for the lexical item “neurologist:” Observational field note, 04–06–18 1 Physician:

What did the neurologist say? Did she go?

2 Petra:

¿Ya visitó al otro doctor?

Did you already visit the other doctor?

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(Continued) 3 Josefina:

¿El doctor que me da gotitas?

4 Petra:

She went to him, and he gave her eye drops.

5 Josefina:

Sí . . . pero también tengo una cita con el neurólogo.

The doctor that gives me the drops?

Yes . . . but I also have an appointment with the neurologist.

During this exchange, approximation aided Petra in facilitating communication between the patient and physician. It also served as a purposeful interactional maneuver to protect her identity as a legitimate, multilingual/ multidialectal speaker. As discussed in Chapter  3, this identity was constructed via different social discourses and interlocutors. Given her role at the Phoenix Community Clinic, it is logical that in this patient visit and others, Petra was operationalizing a storyline of “Medical Interpretation,” in which she took on the position of a Medical Interpreter. To live up to this position, Petra needed to appear to both the physician and patient(s) as a Competent and Legitimate speaker of Spanish who could navigate medical discourse. This meant demonstrating a high command of specialized medical terminology and knowledge – terminology and knowledge that she did not have as she was completing an internship site outside of her area of study. As seen in Line 1, the physician began by inquiring about Josefina’s visit to the neurologist. Not being able to recall the target form, Petra utilized the strategy of approximation in Line 2 by alternating the word “neurologist” (neurólogo) with the related word “doctor” (doctor) to compensate for a knowledge gap that could have put her position at risk. Although these two terms share a similar significance, by using the more general term “doctor,” Petra did not communicate that the doctor in question was a specialist in medical issues related to the nervous system. This is evidenced in Line 3 when Josefina requested clarification regarding as to which doctor she was referring. The communication breakdown continued to Line 4 when Petra misinterpreted the patient’s question as an affirmation that she indeed visited the neurologist, and this provider gave her eye drops. It was not until Line 5, when Josefina produced the item “neurólogo” while continuing to explain her medical history, that the target form happened to be introduced into the encounter. Although it may not have been her conscious motivation for utilizing this CS (approximation), Petra’s use of the term “doctor” signaled to the patient that perhaps she did not have control over the target form (neurólogo). As such, it is possible Josefina introduced the term into the discourse as an act of solidarity, providing her with lexical assistance and support to maintain her position as a competent medical interpreter in the physician’s presence.

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Even though this may not have been an intentional strategy, it was effective for Petra to obtain the target form she was lacking and protect her position within this specific discourse. Circumlocution + Comprehension Check

While working with María, I  observed her implement circumlocution, or “exemplifying, illustrating, or describing the properties of the target object or action” (Lafford, 2004, p. 223). Circumlocution is perceived as an advanced CS (Canale & Swain, 1980). María employed circumlocution in tandem with the own-performance problem-based CS, comprehension check, or “asking questions to check that interlocutor understands” (Lafford, 2004, p.  224). Before filming one of the Phoenix Reportaje’s televised broadcasts, María spoke with a fellow student/colleague who would appear in the show: Observation, 04–05–18 1 María

So, tú estás en broadcast, ¿no?

2 Student

*Nods affirmatively*

3 María

¿En el nook?

4 Student

*Silence. No response*

5 María

¿Sabes cuál es el nook?3

6 Student

*Shakes head to indicate no*

7 María

La mesita donde tú entrevistas y tú estás en esta pantalla de aquí.

So, you are in broadcast, right?

In the nook?

Do you know what the nook is?

It’s the little table where you do interviews and you are on the screen from here.

Taking up the role of Producer within the storyline of the “Broadcast,” María conversed with the student to determine their role in the newscast and physical location within the studio. Interpreting the student reporter’s silence in Line 4 as an expression of nonunderstanding, María made an inthe-moment decision to implement a comprehension check with the function of diagnosing the source of the breakdown. After determining that the gap in her colleague’s knowledge stemmed from unfamiliarity with an English term specific to this studio (“nook”), María implemented the resource deficitbased CS of circumlocution. In doing so, she maintained her position as producer and obtained information that would facilitate the completion of her duties in this role.

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Circumlocution via Gestures

Petra also implemented circumlocution, or paraphrasing, while interpreting and scribing for Olivia,4 a 30-year-old female patient who was seen for diabetes and pain in the sciatic nerve. Due to this pain, Olivia was avoiding physical activity. As part of the treatment plan, the physician asked Petra to explain to Olivia that being inactive and resting would not improve the injury but elongate the recovery time. Therefore, she needed to incorporate stretches to help with this pain: Observational field note, 03–28–18 1 Physician:

You can do exercises like you did in high school, such as the runner’s stretch5, lunges, and touching your toes.

2 Petra

Lo que puedes hacer son ejercicios básicos, como intentar tocar sus dedos.

3

*Acts out stretches*

4 Olivia

*Nods affirmatively to demonstrate understanding*

What you can do are basic exercises, like trying to touch your toes.

Upon indicating the types of stretches the patient should perform in Line 1, the physician utilized colloquial terms (e.g., runner’s stretch) that were difficult to translate and may not have been familiar to all patients or interpreters. For example, patients or interpreters who did not have the opportunity to attend school or whose school perhaps did not have a physical education or track and field program might not understand the colloquial terms. When the time came for Petra to interpret this message to Olivia, she faced a gap in her knowledge that again put her desired positionality as a Competent and Legitimate Medical Interpreter at risk. Petra went beyond verbal circumlocution to bridge the communication and protect her identity and utilized gestures to “illustrate” the target form. She verbalized only the basic information and used circumlocution via gestures to fill in the blanks that she could not produce linguistically. Using this kinesthetic strategy to bridge a gap in Petra’s linguistic knowledge and overcome a possible cultural misunderstanding was effective, as demonstrated by Olivia’s response: an affirmative nod demonstrating understanding. Beyond just this interaction, circumlocution via gestures is an important CS, given the role that gestures play in speech. To illustrate, “gestures that accompany speech (spontaneous gestures or gesticulations) have been reported in

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all cultures studied” (Stam & McCafferty, 2009, p. 3). Specifically, individuals with disabilities (e.g., hearing, listening, visual disabilities) also utilize gestures upon engaging in verbal communication (Jindal et al., 2023). Therefore, including circumlocution via gestures in one’s CS repertoire could be a powerful tool to bridge gaps in communication, considering the ubiquitous role that gestures play in facilitating communication between interlocutors. Message Abandonment

A second resource deficit-based strategy Petra was obligated to use while interpreting for Olivia was message abandonment or an “unfinished message due to some language difficulty” (Lafford, 2004, p. 223). The physician Petra worked with during this patient visit was a medical resident assigned to the Phoenix Metro Clinic for part of their rotation. During my observation, I noted that this physician spoke with a very monotone voice and avoided eye contact with both Petra and the patients he was attending. The physician began the visit using patient-centric language (e.g., Where did you get this medication?) but later seemed frustrated and directed all questions towards Petra (e.g., Ask her where she was planning to get that medication refilled before coming here). Initiating the physical examination, the doctor asked Olivia to get up on the exam table without offering any further explanation regarding why she needed to do so or what would happen next. The physician then began to examine Olivia’s legs and gave Petra short commands to translate in a very firm manner: Observational field note, 03–23–18  1 Physician

Kick.

 2 Petra

Uhhh –

 3 Physician

*Interrupts Petra and speaks louder* Kick.

 4

Kick! *Physically manipulates patient’s foot to perform a kicking motion*

 5 Olivia

*Kicks*

 6 Physician

Up.

 7 Petra

Uhhh –

Possible interpretation: Da/dé patadas6

Possible interpretation: Arriba.

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(Continued)  8 Physician

*Interrupts Petra and speaks louder* Up!

 9

*Physically guides patient’s foot upwards*

10 Patient

*Kicks up*

11 Physician

Push back.

12

Back! *Physically guides patient’s foot back*

13 Patient

*Kicks back*

Possible interpretation: Empuja/empuje.

During this encounter, Petra struggled to produce the vocabulary and grammatical forms requested by the physician, as evidenced by her stutters in Lines 2 and 8. Considering that the doctor was requesting Olivia to perform an action, it may seem logical that Petra could have implemented a non-verbal CS (e.g., circumlocution via gestures) to bridge the gap in her knowledge. However, this was impossible as Olivia was lying on the exam table with her gaze toward the ceiling. Furthermore, the doctor did not allow her time to attempt any other CS. Rather than affording her time to carry out her interpretation task, the doctor became frustrated, interrupted Petra’s attempts, and continued verbalizing these same commands more loudly and firmly to the patient in English. In addition to this repetition, the doctor prompted Olivia to follow the instructions by physically manipulating her feet so that she would begin to make the necessary movements for the assessment. Although the physician obligated Petra to abandon the message by robbing her of any opportunity to implement any other CS, the patient was ultimately able to complete the doctor’s requests. The physician’s actions in this encounter illustrate how, in poststructuralist theories, “our positions depend not only on our own intentions and desires but on which discursive positions are made available by others and by the larger context” (Bernstein, 2014, p. 14). Although Petra desired to take on the position of a Competent and Legitimate Medical Interpreter, the power dynamics of the “larger context” of this in situ encounter restricted her from doing so. At the Phoenix Community Clinic, like many healthcare facilities, physicians occupied a higher position of power on the clinic hierarchy than other staff. The disparity in power between Petra and the doctor affected the extent of collaboration during patient visits. This, in turn, affected her

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ability to co-construct her identity during discourse. Expanding on the effect of these power dynamics: There are many barriers to the engagement of doctors in collaborative processes including specific powers, status, professional socialisation, and decision-making responsibility. These can make it difficult for doctors to work with other health care professionals in ways that involve sharing responsibilities. (Whitehead, 2007, p. 1010) In this interaction, the doctor utilized elements of his “powers, status, professional socialisation, and decision-making responsibility” to take a position of authority. This is evidenced by the physician’s language and actions that created a non-collaborative environment. The doctor interrupted Petra’s attempts at fulfilling her own duties, in addition to shouting and physically manipulating the patient’s leg to carry out the examination. In doing so, the physician took away the potential for Petra to position herself as desired and instead assigned her a passive position. This is illustrated by the fact that Petra did not even attempt to translate the doctor’s third command (“Push back”) to the patient after being interrupted and stripped of the opportunity to carry out her duties. Although Petra did not say anything to me during this moment, she did bring up this encounter during an impromptu follow-up conversation a few weeks later. During this conversation, I asked Petra to reflect on whether she believed that the way the doctors treated the patients influenced (or not) her relationship with the patients and/or the general environment of the visit. She explained: Interview, 04–06–18 Petra:

Yeah. It definitely creates a feel in the room. Most of the time, doctors are friendly, and we’re able to translate that [their friendliness], or a lot of the people understand a little bit of English, so they can see that the doctor’s being friendly. But if we get an example, no offense, like [says doctor’s name] who’s very [makes a sound to indicate her frustration], it’s very – I don’t know what word I want to use – but, yes, you can feel the vibe. *laughs*

In her response, Petra stated that she thought the physician’s attitude and treatment of the patient affected the general environment of the visit. Furthermore, she indicated language as playing a role in “translating” the type of environment that the providing created. How language was utilized to carry out this function depended greatly upon the doctor’s attitude. When juxtaposing “friendly” versus “non-friendly” doctors, Petra cited the doctor from this visit as the latter, providing evidence that she was indeed affected

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by the way that he had silenced her and assigned her a position that she did not want for herself. Omission

While message abandonment entails a speaker attempting to communicate a message but ultimately leaving it unfinished, omission is defined as “leaving a gap when not knowing a word and continuing” (Lafford, 2004, p. 222). Petra employed omission as a CS during the medical history intake for Olivia. When the physician asked where the patient was getting her diabetes medication from before coming to the Phoenix Community Clinic, Olivia responded: Observational field note, 03–23–18 1 Olivia

Una clínica donde se paga la consulta. Y allí tienen los medicamentos pero se ­subieron los precios.

A clinic where they pay for the visit. And they have the medications there but they raised the prices.

2

Es una clínica que queda en la calle 10 y Sunset.

It is a clinic that’s on 10th Street and Sunset.

3 Petra

She was getting in from another clinic, just off of 10th and Sunset.

In Line 1, Olivia began to respond to the physician’s question by explaining that she had previously received her prescriptions from a clinic where she did not have to pay for the consult visit. She additionally stated an important reason for which she could no longer continue to fill her medication at this location: an increase in prices. Next, in Line 2, Olivia offered the physical location of this clinic. Despite needing to translate these three pieces of information, Petra omitted the information in Line 1 and only transmitted the clinic’s physical address. Petra’s omission of the middle “chunk” of the patients’ message is relevant to the process of simultaneous interpretation, or when the translator immediately translates a message in real time. During this process, the demand on an interpreter’s cognitive resources is great as they must express: in the target language the meaning of segment A, just heard from the speech in the source language, attending to the incoming segment B and temporarily holding segment B and/or its meaning in memory while continuing to translate segment A, and at the same time monitoring the target language output for accuracy and smoothness of delivery. (Liu et al., 2004, pp. 19–20)

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To understand the interplay between these processes and the interpreter’s cognitive capacities and limitations, psychologists look to working memory, or “the metaphoric ‘computational space’ available to listeners and readers during the act of comprehension; allows for temporary information storage and manipulation” (VanPatten  & Williams, 2014, p. 286). Cognitive research focusing on working memory has shown that the competition of different functions (storage and processing) increases when an individual’s working memory capacity nears its limit (Daneman & Carpenter, 1980). Therefore, it is possible Petra omitted a portion of the patient’s message due to the lack of capacity within this “computational space.” Another possible explanation is Petra’s domain-specific knowledge. Research on simultaneous interpretation has shown that “the primary difference between experts and novices in a domain was not their general aptitude or working memory capacity, but their domain knowledge or skills” (Liu et al., 2004, p. 21). Therefore, it is also possible Petra could not completely interpret her interlocutor’s message due to her skills as a novice interpreter within the medical domain. Despite either explanation, omitting part of an interlocutor’s message during interpretation can be problematic. During this specific encounter, the economic information that Petra omitted was indeed relevant to the patient visit. Although the Phoenix Community Clinic worked to provide patients with medications at low-tono cost, they could not always provide this service. If this were the case for the current patient, she may not have been able to pay for her treatment and would have had to find a different medical provider again. When I later asked Petra how she felt about this interaction, she told me that she thought it was “tough” to start the day with a patient who spoke in such a quick manner. As such, she decided to “focus on the basics” to compensate for this rapid speech. Had Petra been interested in a career in medicine and taken an SSP medical interpretation course before beginning her internship at the Phoenix Community Clinic, she would probably have acquired greater knowledge and skills in the medical domain. She would also likely have received training and practiced interpreting for individuals who speak at a regular or quick pace. Both factors would have likely assisted in mitigating the linguistic discomfort that Petra experienced while completing her SSP internship. Foreignizing

Another resource deficit-based strategy Petra utilized during her internship was foreignizing, which involves “using L1 word by adjusting to L2 phonology, morphology, or both” (Lafford, 2004, p.  222). She implemented this

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strategy while interpreting and scribing for an adolescent male, accompanied by his mother, Violeta, who was at the clinic for a general physical and mental health follow-up visit. Regarding her son’s mental health, Violeta stated that his behavior had “worsened” since moving from Mexico to the state of Arizona 13 years ago. In addition to the move, he experienced a lot of bullying at school. Having said this, she was more optimistic as he had seemed to be making more friends since transitioning into high school. Although the patient spoke both English and Spanish, he only communicated with the physician in English. He chose not to translate for his mother, who could understand most of the conversation in English but only spoke Spanish. The physician attempted to make the visit more patient-centered by directing his questions to the young boy. Despite this attempt, the medical doctor often had to re-direct the questions to his mother as the patient was quiet and did not give complete or in-depth answers, especially when asked about his mental health. In addition to visiting the Phoenix Community clinic for the stated reasons, the patient had attended an appointment with the dental side of the clinic earlier that morning. During the physical examination, the patient affirmed that they had just performed a treatment on his teeth. The physician asked him if they had said anything about his wisdom teeth and began to explain that sometimes, when these teeth grow in, they crowd the mouth and must be removed. The patient responded that he often experienced ear pain, to which the doctor responded: Observational field note, 04–11–18 1 Physician

When the molars are coming in and it gets crowded, it [pain] can feel like it’s in your ear.

2 Petra

Cuando se están creciendo los molars . . .

When the molars are growing . . .

As Petra began to interpret this message for the patient’s mother, she relied on the CS of foreignization for the lexical item “molars.” Instead of utilizing the terms “molares” or “muelas” in Spanish, she used the English word “molars” and adjusted it by adopting the L2 phonology. Whereas the social role of other strategies has been reported as an interactional maneuver to maintain her positionality as a competent and legitimate medical interpreter, it is most likely that Petra subconsciously foreignized the English word “molars” with the intent of carrying out her interpretation duties.

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Translanguaging

Code-switching as a CS has been conceptualized traditionally by scholars as using a first language (L1) lexical item with L1 pronunciation as a way to compensate for the lack of knowledge in the target language (Dörnyei & Scott, 1997; Lafford, 2004). This concept is differentiated from foreignizing, a CS utilized by Petra, that encompasses “using L1 word by adjusting to L2 phonology, morphology, or both” (Lafford, 2004, p. 222). Although both María and Penélope altered “two languages within a single discourse, sentence or constituent” (Poplack, 1980, p. 583), the traditional definition does not represent the social function that this CS served during their social discourses. Therefore, I propose using translanguaging to express the sentiment of the ideological movement that celebrates a bilingual’s/multilingual’s abilities and considers their full range of semiotic resources, including those afforded through digital mediums. With this definition in mind, both María and Penélope utilized translanguaging. Whereas María utilized it as a CS to solve a resource deficit-related issue stemming from differences in linguistic varieties, Penélope translanguaged to build rapport with community members. María

During our final interview, María and I began discussing how her position as a nonlocal NS influenced her ability to communicate with colleagues and/or members of the local Hispanic/Latinx communities. I asked about the variation between her Puerto Rican variety of Spanish and the more common U.S. Spanish variety in the Phoenix Metro area. As analyzed in Chapter 2, a way María claimed her puertorriqueñidad as part of her position in social discourses was through her linguistic variety. In carrying out her SSP internship within the context of the Southwest, however, her nonlocal variation did pose certain discursive challenges. For example, she often encountered communicative events where discrepancies between linguistic varieties led to comprehension-based breakdowns between herself and her interlocutors from the Phoenix Metro area. To bridge these breakdowns in communications, María explained the specific strategies that she implemented: Interview, 04–27–18 1 María

Si no hay una palabra diferente, por ejemplo, con la palabra “coger,” “agarrar.”

If there isn’t a different word, for example, with the word “coger,” “agarrar.”7

2

Si sé que no me van a entender, me inclino hacia el inglés. Y lo hago mucho.

If I know that they aren’t going to understand me, I lean towards using ­English. And I do it a lot.

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(Continued) 3

Pero, bueno, si yo no estoy segura de que me van a entender – sí, tiendo a inclinarme al español para evitar eso porque sé que no van a –

But, well, if I’m not sure that they are going to understand me – yeah, I tend to lean towards Spanish to avoid that because I know they aren’t going to –

4 Lexi

¿El inglés?

English?

5 María

Exacto, el inglés. Le hablo inglés si no me van a entender. So, I do – uso eso mucho.

Exactly, English. I speak English if they aren’t going to understand me. So, I do – I use that a lot.

In this passage, María reported implementing two different CSs, the first being approximation, or choosing a synonym within the target language of Spanish. However, if these strategies were not an option, she would utilize English as a sort of lingua franca to successfully transmit her intended message. Having said this, translanguaging was a viable CS only if she was engaging in discourse within a bilingual environment where the interlocutors spoke both Spanish and English. In addition to her account of utilizing translanguaging as a CS, I was able to see her in action during my second observation. At this time, María was acting as the main producer for one of the Phoenix Reportaje’s Facebook Live shows. In addition to being accompanied in the control room by the English-speaking tech crew, two of her mentors were present: 1) The newscast supervisor of the Phoenix Reportaje, who was editing the script (e.g., replacing words that the broadcasters were having difficulty pronouncing, Googling, and adding names that were missing) 2) The newscast supervisor of Frontier News (one of the beats at the Phoenix Report), who was running the prompter As María was advising one of the bilingual broadcasters who was about to introduce the next news segment vis-à-vis the intercom system, a communication breakdown occurred: Observation, 04–05–18 1 María

Súbete los espejuelos. Se te están cayendo.

2 Broadcaster

*Silence. No reaction to command.*

Push your espejuelos up. They’re falling.

(Continued)

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(Continued) 3 María

¿Los glasses? There you go.

4 Broadcaster

*Pushes up glasses*

5 María

There you go.

In Line 1, María asked the broadcaster to push up her glasses. While producing this imperative command, María used “espejuelos,” the prototypical default or “standard” lexical item for “glasses” in the Puerto Rican variety. Given the broadcaster’s silence and lack of reaction to her command in Line 2, María perceived a breakdown in communication stemming from lexical variation as the broadcaster spoke a Mexican variety in which the “standard” for “glasses” is “lentes.” Even though “espejuelos” would have been understood by speakers of the Puerto Rican variety, it was not understood in her current environment. ­Facing this breakdown in communication, María had to devise an in-the-moment strategy to solve this resource deficit-based issue. Lacking the resources of the local variety that the interlocutor would understand, she decided to implement translanguaging as a CS. Specifically, she produced the word “glasses” in a language that both she and her bilingual interlocutor understood: English. Although her strategy was effective, as evidenced by the broadcaster’s compliance with her command in Line 4, it did have implications for her position within the discourse of this Facebook Live show. Many non-speakers of Puerto Rican Spanish often view translanguaging as an iconic characteristic (Irvine & Gal, 2000) of this variety, in the sense that it marks the supposed influence of the U.S. as a colonial power on the island. On the contrary, for María, translanguaging was an inherent characteristic of her variety that marked her puertorriqueñidad and not a connection to the mainland. As such, this multilingual practice served the purpose of helping her to construct her position as a Puerto Rican Woman across social discourses with different monolingual or bilingual interlocutors. However, by implementing translanguaging as a resource deficit-based strategy, María was obligated to use the socially dominant language of English at times when she would otherwise have naturally called upon her Spanish repertoire. Penélope

Penélope’s choice to engage in translanguaging as a multilingual practice contrasted with María’s use of translanguaging as a CS. While completing her

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SSP internship at the Phoenix Reportaje, Penélope created a news “package” that focused on the journey, treatment, cost, and success rates for Hispanics/Latinxs dealing with immigration issues. Specifically, she sought to contrast the stories of those with legal representation to help them navigate such issues versus those without legal representation. As part of this project, she interviewed Juan, whom we met in Chapter 1. Juan was the services coordinator for a grassroots organization dedicated to educating the community on immigration services through advocacy and civic engagement. During this encounter, Penélope decided to translanguage with the social function of building rapport with her interlocutor: Observation, 03–29–18 1 Penélope

Y como usted trabaja mucho con estos casos, si alguna persona, vamos a decir que tienen un caso y no tienen ayuda legal . . .

And since you work with many of these cases, if someone, let’s say they have a case and don’t have legal help . . .

2

¿Cuál es – ? ¿Qué tipo de – advice le daría para buscar un abogado que realmente los pueda ayudar y los pueda ayudar de una manera correcta?

What is – ? What type of – advice would you give them to look for a lawyer who really could help them and could help them in the right way?

3

Como, ¿qué debería de buscar en un abogado?

Like, what should they look for in a lawyer?

Much like the participants in Zentella’s 1997 study of bilingual Nuyoricans, Penélope’s translanguaging did not stem from a resource deficit in her HL. In fact, within this same interview, she produced the word “consejo” (advice) in Spanish: Observation, 03–29–18 1 Penélope

Usted, si le tuviera que dar If you had to give advice un consejo a alguien, to someone, what would ¿qué les diría? you say?

Instead, her decision to go “between different linguistic structures and systems” (Wei, 2011, p. 1223) represented a natural component of her bilingual repertoire. Furthermore, the social function of translanguaging seemed to be a strategy to build rapport with this particular interviewee.

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To explain, Juan shared some details about his journey to Arizona during the de-briefing session I conducted after the observation. Like many of the individuals with whom Penélope interacted and interviewed, Juan would be considered an HL speaker per the definition presented in the Preface. For example, as Juan was originally born in Mexico and came to the U.S. at the age of five, he would be considered a second-generation (G2) immigrant. Given the circumstances, he received the majority of his education in the dominant language of English. Despite coming from different physical communities, Penélope and Juan shared many linguistic and cultural connections with their HL communities. With these connections in mind, as well as the fact that Penélope appropriated her SSP experience to engage in identity work where she (re)claimed her MexicanAmerican identity across different discourses, her translanguaging practice could have been a way for her and Juan to re-connect “with people, occasions, settings, and power configurations from their history of past interactions, and imprinting their own ‘act of identity’ ” (Zentella, 1997, p. 113). Restructuring (Message Replacement)

During my observations, each of the interns implemented restructuring, or the abandonment of “the execution of a verbal plan because of language difficulties, leaving the utterance unfinished, and communicating message with an alternate plan” (Lafford, 2004, p.  223). Restructuring differs from the previously explained concept of message abandonment. Whereas message abandonment entails a speaker attempting to communicate a message but ultimately leaving it unfinished due to a language difficulty, restructuring consists of the speaker utilizing an alternative strategy to communicate the message upon experiencing a language difficulty. In Lafford’s 2004 study, she also included Dörnyei and Scott’s (1997) category of message replacement, which refers to those “cases where learners restructure due to lexical or syntactic difficulties” (p. 223). Penélope: Restructuring + Own-accuracy Check

During the interview with Juan, Penélope asked a variety of questions regarding the immigration services that the organization offered. While doing so, a breakdown in communication occurred in which she utilized restructuring in combination with the own-performance problem-based CS, own-accuracy check, or when the speaker indicates “some degree of uncertainty, expressed with words or just with question intonation, about a self-produced form” (Lafford, 2004, p. 224).

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Observation, 03–29–18 1 Penélope

Entonces, si un cliente tiene la opción de a lo mejor tenerlo –

So, if a client has the option of having –

2

un abogado que sí cobra menos, pero a lo mejor no es tan conocido en la comunidad, o alguien quién a lo mejor es un poquito más costoso

a lawyer that indeed charges less, put maybe isn’t as known in the community, or that is maybe a little bit more expensive

3

pero si tiene como esa repre – esa – I don’t know like – como . . . la gente si sabe que esta persona sí pelea por sus clientes.

But if they have that repre – that – I don’t know – like . . . if they know that this person indeed fights for their clients.

4

Usted, si le tuviera que dar un consejo a alguien, ¿qué les diría? ¿Si tiene valor gastar más en esto? Porque, al final del día, como dijo usted, si tienen que tratarse a lo mejor con la deportación o con poder encontrar un estatus – entonces, ¿usted sí cree que tiene valor la calidad cuando se trata de un abogado?

If you had to give advice to ­someone, what would you say? If it’s worth spending more on that? Because, at the end of the day, like you said, if they have to maybe deal with deportation or with being able to find a status – then, do you think that the quality would be worth it when it comes to a lawyer?

5 Juan

Sí, sí, sí. Claro que sí. Es muy importante tener alguien que tenga experiencia y sepa lo que está haciendo. Porque si te vas con alguien que no sabe lo que está haciendo, más tarde vas a estar desperdiciando tu dinero . . .

Yes, yes, yes. Of course. It is very important to have someone that has experience and knows what they are doing. Because if you end up going with someone that doesn’t know what they are doing, later you are going to be wasting your money . . .

In Lines 1 and 2, Penélope began to contextualize her question regarding any financial advice that Juan would have for Hispanic/Latinx community members seeking the services of an immigration lawyer. In Line 3, the breakdown occurred when she began to say what was presumably the word “representación” (representation). Penélope cut herself off mid-pronunciation and

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translanguaged: “I don’t know like –. ” She did not do so with the ­function of solving a resource deficit-based issue but rather to implement an ownaccuracy check. Unlike the implementation of fillers that served to protect her identity as a Competent, Bilingual Journalist, which will be reviewed a bit later, she potentially compromised this position by admitting her uncertainty via this CS. After communicating her language difficulties to Juan, Penélope implemented another CS in this same line: the resource deficit-based strategy of restructuring. She produced an entirely new structure (“como . . . la gente si sabe que esta persona sí pelea por sus clientes”) to transmit the question to her interviewee. The use of this CS was successful, as shown by Juan’s response in Line 5. With this result, she overcame the breakdown in communication and regained her desired position as a Competent, Bilingual Journalist. The use of these two CSs exemplifies how a speaker’s positionality is not static but continually reconstructed through discourse. María: Restructuring + Self-repetition

María, on the other hand, utilized restructuring as a CS in English but coupled it with the other-performance problem-based strategy of self-repetition in Spanish. Self-repetition refers to “repeating a word or a string of words immediately after they were said” (Dörnyei & Scott, 1997, p. 190) for the following purposes: “(a) to stall, and (b) to provide the listener with another chance to hear and process the information” (p. 193). She did so while acting as the producer for the previously described Phoenix Reportaje televised broadcast: Observation, 04–05–18 1 María

¿Puede ajustar el – el – ? ¿Puede ajustar el – ?

2 Tech Crew

*Interrupts and directs question to María* The title?

3 María

Yeah. Can you not – ? Don’t use that CG.8

4 Supervisor of Phoenix Reportaje

*Redirects María’s attention to the previous conversation* What do you need? Shorter?

5 María

Cortar, sí – el intro.

6 Supervisor of Phoenix Reportaje

Okay.

Can you adjust the – the – ? Can you adjust the – ?

To cut, yeah – the intro.

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In this passage, María was taking up the position of a Bilingual Producer in the same storyline occurring across two different discourses, in two different languages, with two different interlocutors. Like Penélope in the previous example, María first utilized self-repetition in Line 1 to stall as she struggled to verbalize a question to the supervisor of the Phoenix Reportaje in discourse A. Perhaps not understanding María’s engagement in this discourse, an English-speaking tech crew member interrupted her, initiating discourse B. While responding to the tech crew member’s question in Line 3, María utilized restructuring to overcome the resource deficit-based issue she was experiencing in English. Both CSs assisted María in successfully carrying out her expected duties as Producer, thus living up to the role that she both desired to take up and was assigned by these different interlocutors. Filler + Google Translate (Fillers for Stalling to Use Google Translate)

During one visit, Petra acted as a medical interpreter and scribe for Lucía, a 41-year-old female patient who was being seen for pain in her left heel. While the physician was completing the physical examination, a breakdown in communication occurred: Observational field note, 04–11–18 1  Physician

I think you have inflammation in the tendons.

2 Petra

*Verbalizes with hesitation* I don’t remember how to say tendon . . .

3

*Types “tendon” into Google Translate on clinic laptop*

4

Oh. Tendón.

While physically assessing Lucía in Line 1, the physician stated that they believed she had inflammation in her tendons. Upon needing to interpret this message, Petra faced a gap in her knowledge. Reacting to this gap, she hesitantly verbalized her lack of knowledge of this medical term by utilizing a filler. Specifically, she stated, “I don’t remember how to say tendon . . .” Petra used this strategy in an innovative way: stalling to use Google Translate. Her use of a filler served two different functions. The first was pragmatic in that it allowed her to maintain discourse and hold the floor while signaling to her interlocutors that the “standard” flow of doctor-to-interpreter/ interpreter-to-patient discourse was being interrupted. Secondly, and more innovatively, it allowed her to “stall” for the time she needed to solve this issue by turning to Google Translate. She pulled up Google Translate on the clinic laptop and utilized it as an artifact to help bridge this gap in her

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knowledge. By pressing just a few keys, she could mediate her knowledge by retrieving the word “tendón” (tendon) and, consequently, carry on with the rest of the communicative event. Fillers

Penélope also utilized fillers as a CS. While engaging in her interview with Juan, there were several instances where Penélope experienced “times of difficult discourse:” Observation, 03–29–18 1 Penélope Y umm – Perdón. Se me fue la pregunta poquito.

And umm – Sorry. I lost track of the question a little bit.

2

*Long pause*

3

I lost my train of thought. I just like blanked.

4

*Long pause*

5

Okay. And when a person is lookOkay. Y cuando una persona ing for their legal representation, está buscando su representdo you think that there are many ación legal, ¿usted cree que hay – muchos – como – abogados like – lawyers that because of the que por el estatus de nuestro status of the political climate right clima político ahorita que está now that’s all about immigration, con todo de inmigración, y and everything is very – todo está muy –

6

Así, ¿cree que hay – como más de una incentiva para que los abogados – como ofrezcan más ayuda pro bono para los clientes – como para querer ayudar poquito a todo lo que está pasando?

In such a way, do you believe that there is like more of an incentive so that the lawyers like offer more pro bono help to their clients like to want to help a little bit with everything that is going on?

During this segment of the interview, Penélope experienced difficulties remembering and forming her interview questions, as evidenced by the long pauses in Lines 2 and 3 and restarts in Lines 5 and 6. To protect her identity as a Competent and Prepared Bilingual Journalist in the storyline of the “Interview,” Penélope implemented fillers as a CS. Similar to Petra’s implementation of this CS, these fillers served the pragmatic function of maintaining discourse and buying Penélope time as she grappled with connecting and verbalizing her thoughts.

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Despite the similar social functions of these fillers, there is one element that distinguished how Petra and Penélope implemented this strategy: the language of discourse. Whereas Petra was constrained to verbalize fillers in her monolingual interlocutors’ language, Penélope implemented this type of CS in Spanish and English with the same bilingual interlocutor. Specifically, in Line 3, she translanguaged to produce the filler: “I lost my train of thought. I  just like blanked.” Here again, Penélope’s decision to translanguage did not stem from the need to solve a resource deficit-based issue but rather to gain time as she attempted to recuperate the interview question she had forgotten.

Own-performance Problem Strategies Self-repair

Penélope utilized the own-performance problem-based strategy of self-repair, or “making self-initiated corrections in one’s own speech” (Lafford, 2004, p. 223). As another piece to her news package covering legal representation for Hispanics/Latinxs dealing with immigration issues, Penélope contacted Rafael, a Hispanic paralegal, for an interview. Instead of conducting the interview in the field, she invited her interviewee to the studio at the School of Journalism. During the brief, Spanish-language interview – later aired vis-à-vis Facebook – Rafael promoted the citizenship and English classes his organization offered to the local community. At one point in the interview, Penélope implemented the self-repair CS: Observation, 03–37–18 1 Rafael

Lo que nosotros hacemos es dar servicios de trámites de migración. Más que todo, lo que es la ciudadanía, residencia, las peticiones y casi todo lo relacionado con migración.

What we do is provide services for immigration procedures. More than anything, for citizenship, residency, petitions, and almost everything related to immigration.

2

Con la excepción de que aún todavía no podemos representar a un cliente en la corte.

With the exception that we still can’t represent a client in court.

3 Penélope

Okay. Y, ¿me puede hablar un poquito sobre los – las clases que ofrece, que son para la ciudadanía, que ofrece gratuitamente?

Okay. And, can you talk to me a ­little bit about the – the classes that you offer, that are for citizenship, that you offer free of charge?

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While forming her next interview question in Line 3, Penélope ­experienced a brief gap in her knowledge related to the target item, “las clases” – a ­feminine noun. As Spanish is a gendered language, all nouns are classified as either feminine (indexed by the definite articles la/las and indefinite articles una/ unas) or masculine (indexed by the definite articles el/los and indefinite articles un/unos). Penélope began indexing this feminine/plural noun (“clases”) as masculine/plural by using the definite article “los.” Realizing the disagreement in gender, she self-corrected the error by verbalizing the appropriate definite article “las.” By implementing this self-repair as a CS, Penélope successfully transmitted her question to her interlocutor while maintaining her desired identity during this public interview. Other-performance Problem Strategies Feigning Understanding + Expressing Nonunderstanding

Feigning understanding (or the “let it pass principle,” as coined by Firth, 1996) refers to “making an attempt to carry on the conversation in spite of not understanding something by pretending to understand” (Dörnyei & Scott, 1997, p. 191). A related but different CS, expressing nonunderstanding, refers to “expressing that the learner did not understand something properly either verbally or nonverbally” (Lafford, 2004, p. 224). Petra implemented these strategies during a visit with Valentina, a 70-year-old female patient seeking medical care for diabetes. Valentina began to reveal details of her medical history as the doctor examined her feet: Observational field note, 04–06–18 1 Valentina En el dedo grande y el dedo al lado, me picaron seis abejas . . . 2 Petra

*Smiles and nods head*

3 Lexi

Did you get that?

4 Petra

No! I heard something about “abeja” but I can’t remember what it means . . .

5 Lexi

Bee!

6 Petra

Oh, bee!

7 Lexi

So, she was saying six bees bit her big toe and the toe next to it.

Six bees stung me in the big toe and the toe right next to it . . .

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After Valentina detailed the information of a bee attack in Line 1, Petra did not respond by interpreting this information to the physician but instead utilized smiling and nodding gestures. As a fellow L2 speaker who had been in similar situations, I  interpreted these gestures as a pragmatic strategy to protect her positionality as a Competent Speaker during a moment of incomprehensibility. However, the gestures did not play a role in repairing the breakdown in communication. Noticing that Petra was not attempting to utilize other CSs to bridge this communication breakdown, I decided to intervene. Although I  was not the interpreter and just “there to observe,” I  was aware that Petra would not be able to report this information that could be pertinent to the patient’s health back to the physician. I decided to intervene with the rationalization that I  was helping to ensure the patient’s quality care. Consequently, I stepped in and served as a language mediation artifact. I started this process by using a comprehension check, asking Petra, “Did you get that?” Petra then responded by expressing nonunderstanding (“No!”), which prompted me to provide her with the translation of the target information she lacked. In this situation, I interpreted Petra’s gestures and silence as indirect expressions of a breakdown in communication. Asking for Confirmation

Asking for confirmation refers to “requesting an explanation or repetition when comprehension breaks down” (Lafford, 2004, p. 224). Petra used this strategy while interpreting for Olivia. During the medical history intake, the physician asked Olivia about her exercise routine and whether she had lost weight. Olivia responded with a detailed explanation regarding her previous routine but stated she had ceased this activity due to the pain that would radiate from her back and hip to her toes. Upon hearing this long response, Petra asked the patient: Observational field note, 03–23–18 1 Petra: Entonces, ¿estaba haciendo muchos So, you were doing a lot of exercises, ejercicios, pero ahora no tanto? but now not so much?

While offering a lengthy response to the doctor’s question, Olivia did not pause to allow Petra opportunities to translate in smaller chunks of discourse, nor did Petra ask her to pause or speak in smaller fragments. With limited capacity in her working memory, Petra was unable to interpret the entire message that the patient had communicated. Therefore, Petra asked the patient for confirmation before reporting back to the doctor. It is important to note that Petra did not simply ask the patient to repeat what she had said (e.g., “Can you repeat?”). Instead, she utilized bits of the patient’s discourse

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to confirm that her summarization was correct (“So, you were doing a lot of exercises, but now not so much?”). By incorporating the patient’s own discourse, Petra signaled to Olivia that she had comprehended the message versus admitting that there was a complete breakdown in communication. Therefore, by asking for confirmation in this manner, Petra could maintain her desired position and complete her task at hand. Self-repetition María: Self-repetition + Asking for Confirmation + Circumlocution

María implemented self-repetition for a second time during a different in situ encounter. However, in the second instance, she paired this CS with an additional other-performance problem-based strategy (i.e., asking for confirmation) and a resource deficit-based strategy (i.e., circumlocution). As previously described, María acted as a key “behind the scenes” team member for the Facebook video interview that Penélope carried out with Rafael, the Hispanic paralegal, at the Phoenix Report/Reportaje studio. During this discursive event, Penélope took up the position of Spanish-Language Journalist, and María took up the positions of both Producer and Bilingual Mediator. While working with the English-speaking tech crew to prepare the equipment and “nook” for the interview, María again faced two breakdowns across two different discourses, in two different languages, with two different interlocutors. Throughout these different discourses, María implemented three CSs to maintain her positionality via identifying and solving an issue that potentially threatened the professional image of the newscast: Observation, 03–27–18 1 Tech Crew:

Yo, you good with that shot of her knees showing?

2 María:

Eh –

3 Tech Crew:

Otherwise, we gotta bring it closer together and shoot that much tighter. I mean, I don’t care. So, you’re –

4 María:

It’s just the knee, yeah?

5 Tech Crew:

Yeah.

6 María:

I’ll tell her.

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(Continued)  7

¿Te puedes bajar un poquito el traje?

 8 Penélope:

*No response*

 9 María:

El muslo.

10 Penélope:

*No response*

11 María:

Te pue – En el muslo.

12 Penélope:

*No response*

13 María:

Que te llegue a las rodillas – el traje.

14 Penélope:

*Pulls dress down to top of knees*

15 María:

Okay. That’s better, yeah.

Can you pull down your dress a little bit?

The thigh.

Can you – on your thigh.

So that it hits your knees – the dress.

As part of her production duties, María had to make in-the-moment decisions and relay them across the different teams to maintain the broadcast’s professional image and integrity. In this passage, an English-speaking tech crew member put María in a situation where she had to make a call regarding the professional presentation of the Facebook video interview. In Line 4, María asked the tech crew member for clarification (“It’s just the knee, yeah?”) regarding the issue in question. Having identified the problem, María moved between her linguistic systems to relay this information to Penélope over the digital communication system. Upon doing so, María was met with silence from Penélope. Interpreting this as an expression of nonunderstanding, María repeated herself in Line 11 with the function of providing “the listener with another chance to hear and process the information” (Dörnyei & Scott, 1997, p. 193). After deeming this strategy unsuccessful, as evidenced by Penélope’s continued silence, María implemented a final CS in Line 13: circumlocution. By offering an alternative description, María could bridge Penélope’s resource deficit-based issue and transmit her order successfully, allowing the tech crew to get the appropriate professional shot for the interview. Mediation by Technology as an Artifact

The final category of CSs is one that I  am proposing and grounding in Vygotsky’s (1978) sociocultural theory (SCT). The underlying tenets of

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SCT are most often associated with the work of Russian psychologist Vygotsky (1978), who theorized that all learning occurs through social action and the mediation of symbolic and tangible tools. Specifically, this theory “links individual mental processes with the cultural, institutional and historical context and emphasises the roles of cultural mediation in the development of higher psychological functions (for example thinking, reasoning, self-awareness, or the use of signs such as language)” (Hampel, 2015, p.  135). Extended to SLA/AL, one learns a language to be able to participate socially. Logically, then, the most beneficial context for such learning is through interactions with other speakers and mediation. Thus, the learner can eventually work to master linguistic aspects of the target langue and acquire strategies to breach misunderstandings within communicative contexts. Development is defined through one of the main goals of the SCT: internalization. This is the process by which the learner is able to gain more voluntary control over their capacity to think and act in the language through being more proficient in the use of mediating resources and/or minimizing their dependency on external mediums. In other words, it is a move from the social (interpsychological) to the individual (intrapsychological) plane. Internalization is achieved through interaction that occurs in the zone of proximal development (ZPD), or the difference between what a learner can do on their own and with the help of an expert. It can also be achieved through the three levels of mediation: mediation by artifacts (tools in one’s environment that permit cognition and/or the completion of a task); mediation by others (the help of others, which can manifest in implicit and/or explicit feedback, as well as in the orientation of an expert within the ZPD); and self-regulation (when the learner gains more control of these forms of mediation and is able to have less dependency on them). Self-regulation can also occur in the form of private speech, which may seem social in its form but is psychological in its function to regulate psychological behaviors. Given that the SCT supports the use of an individual’s L1 to resolve communication and problem-solving issues, such private speech may manifest in the form of the speaker’s first or target language. As mentioned in the previous paragraph, mediation by (traditional) artifacts is one level of mediation. With the increasing presence of technology in both personal and professional contexts, it is important to consider a specific type of artifact that learners engaging in EX-LL can utilize to bridge and prevent breakdowns in communication: technology-based artifacts. Therefore, I  propose mediation by technology as an artifact as an additional CS category. In Petra’s SSP internship, she utilized two technology-based resources during in situ encounters: (i) Google for cultural mediation and (ii) Google Translate.

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Google for Cultural Mediation

As a medical interpreter and scribe, Petra would wheel in a computer on a mobile desk to each visit so that she and the physician could access the patients’ medical records through the electronic medical records (EMR) system. As this laptop provided Petra access to the clinic’s internet, it became a technology-based artifact that Petra utilized to facilitate cultural mediation while interpreting via the search engine Google. While discussing the treatment plan with Olivia, the physician asked Petra to relay that she needed to continue to lose weight: Observational field note, 04–06–18 1  Physician:

She needs to lose about 10 pounds. What would that be in kilos? I think it’s pounds divided by 2.5?

2 Petra:

*Types “10 pounds to kilo” into Google*

3

Entonces, 4 o 5 kilos.

So, 4 or 5 kilos.

In this case, it was not a lack of linguistic knowledge that posed a breakdown in communication but rather a cultural difference. Given that the patient was born and permanently resided in Mexico, she was accustomed to utilizing the metric system for measuring versus the imperial system used in the United States (U.S.). Therefore, the physician could not simply ask Petra to translate that the patient needed to lose roughly 10 pounds; instead, this number needed to be converted to the measurement that the patient would understand (i.e., kilograms). To bridge this knowledge gap, Petra utilized Google as a mediation tool, which she implemented to look up the conversion and then interpret the message to the patient successfully. Google Translate

The final technology-based artifact Petra coupled with other CSs to mediate her strategic knowledge was Google Translate. Petra, along with Penélope and María, had not received formal training or best practices for using technological tools as a language mediation strategy in any of her Spanish classes. With no knowledge of other resources, Google Translate became her go-to artifact. By the end of the three observations, she would always have this tool open in a tab and ready to go in case a breakdown occurred. When I asked her why she chose this particular artifact, Petra explained:

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Interview, 04–21–18 Petra: It’s simple. It’s easy even though I feel like Google Translate sometimes is a little wack with its translating, but I feel like it’s gotten a little bit better for looking up one word versus a full paragraph or a sentence. Just because it’s easy.

Petra justified her choice of Google Translate by explaining the ease with which she could access the information she needed. As breakdowns in communication would occur during in-the-moment interpreting, Petra did not have enough time to enter a word into an online dictionary and read through different uses and examples (such as with other mediation tools, like WordReference or Linguee). Additionally, she was only translating specialized medical terminology and/or one- or two-word phrases versus full sentences or paragraphs. Therefore, Google Translate indeed served her well for the specific types of encounters in which she would engage with medical doctors and patients. While accompanying Petra during her interpretation duties, I observed her using these tools in action. Google Translate + Filler + Foreignizing

After completing the physical examination and reviewing the treatment plan with Lucía, another breakdown in communication occurred regarding the word “tetanus:” Observational field note, 04–11–18  1 Physician: The last time that you had a tetanus shot was X years ago. Would you like to get that vaccination today?  2 Petra:

El doctor quiere saber si quiere una vacuna de “tétanus.”

The doctor wants to know if you would like a “tétanus” vaccination?

 3 Lucía:

¿Vacuna de qué?

What kind of vaccination?

 4 Petra:

Un momento . . .

One moment . . .

 5

*Begins to type in tetanus in Google Translate on clinic laptop but is having difficulty spelling the word in English*

 6 Physician: *The physician dictates spelling, but Petra still can’t quite get it*

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(Continued)  7 Lexi:

*I Googled “tetanus shot” on my phone. It autocorrects my spelling, displaying the correct spelling*

 8

*I show her my phone so she can see and type it into Google Translate*

 9 Petra:

¿Tétano . . . ?

Tetanus . . . ?

10 Patient:

Ah, sí. De tétano. ¿Para qué es esa vacuna?

Ah, yes. Tetanus. For what is that vaccination?

Petra began her interpretation in Line 2 by implementing the strategy of foreignizing. Not recognizing the foreignized word “tetanus,” Lucía requested clarification. Upon receiving this request, Petra again implemented a filler (“Un momento . . .”) in Line 4 as a CS to indicate that the flow of translation would be interrupted again while simultaneously buying time as she sought out assistance. Specifically, she turned once more to Google Translate to mediate this gap in her knowledge. In doing so, she faced another difficulty due to the artifact’s design. To utilize this technology-based artifact successfully, the user must first input the target word in the language from which they are translating. As Petra could not produce the correct spelling of this word in English, she was not receiving the translation she needed to relay the physician’s question to the patient. Noticing this issue, the physician stepped in to dictate the spelling to her. However, she was still unable to type the word correctly. Perhaps this was due to the linguistic and social discomfort she was already feeling or the pressure to bridge this gap in her knowledge quickly. Seeing Petra was anxious, I joined in by pulling out my iPhone and Googling “tetanus shot” so I  could show her a visual representation of the word that she could then type into the translator. It turns out that I also could not spell this word in English. Luckily, one of the affordances of Google saved me: autocorrect. Once Google gave me the correct spelling, I showed Petra my phone so she could see and type the word at her own pace. After this team effort, Petra finally received the translation from Google Translate and was able to interpret the physician’s question successfully. In this case, it took three different CSs (i.e., foreignizing, filler, Google Translate) and the help of more than one “expert” or peer to overcome the breakdown in communication. Communicative Strategies During Premeditative Conversations

Although each of the three interns engaged with in situ encounters, many of the duties that María and Penélope were required to carry out afforded them a possibility that Petra did not have given the expectations of her community

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internship site. They had the opportunity to “bridge” their knowledge (i.e., premeditative encounters) before engaging in real-time communicative encounters with community members and other social actors related to their internships. Whereas students at the Phoenix Reportaje (like María and Penélope) were expected to prepare beforehand for specific tasks (e.g., interviews with a known interlocutor, newscasts with a script or notes), the medical interpreters and scribes at the Phoenix Community Clinic (like Petra) did not have this luxury. Although there was a patient schedule, it was not fixed. Patients could cancel or move their appointments, and with multiple doctors, Petra often did not know which patient she would be working with until moments before entering the visit. Furthermore, new patients would not have any information in the EMR that she could review before the visit, and returning patients could have been experiencing other issues than those documented in their charts. Therefore, it would have been extremely difficult for Petra to know which patients she would work with and what their ailments would be. As such, she could not prepare herself pre-meditatively for these encounters. The only type of preparation she and future interns taking up these roles could engage in would be taking a Spanish medical course and/or a Spanish medical interpretation course. The resources that María and Penélope utilized in these pre-meditative encounters can be divided into three distinct categories: (i) mediation by (traditional) artifacts, (ii) mediation by technology as an artifact, and (iii) mediation by others, as delineated in Table 5.2.

TABLE 5.2  Penélope’s and María’s Use of Communicative Strategies During Prem­

editative Encounters Intern

Penélope

CS Type Mediation by (Traditional) Artifacts   Physical notebook

X

Mediation by Technology as an Artifact*   Google Translate   Real Academia Española   Univision website   Telemundo website Mediation by Others   Newscast supervisor: Phoenix Reportaje   Newscast supervisor: Frontier News *  Asterisk indicates new CS category that I am proposing

María

X X X X X X

X X

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Mediation by (Traditional) Artifacts

As recently outlined, mediation by (traditional) artifacts refers to the tools in one’s environment that permit cognition and/or the completion of a task. Penélope reported implementing a specific traditional artifact to help her prepare and conduct interviews with community members: a physical notebook. This artifact additionally assisted her in maintaining the position of a Competent, Bilingual Journalist during various social discourses. Physical Notebook

With an emphasis on (digital) broadcasting, Penélope’s main internship duty was crafting news stories, or “packages,” for the Phoenix Reportaje program. To carry out this task, it was necessary that she engaged in research, attended community events, and interviewed community members. Penélope would often reach out to potential interviewees in English and/or Spanish using a digital medium like email, Facebook, and Twitter (now called “X”). Once she received an affirmative response, she would schedule an interview that would most likely take place in a community space related to the content of the interview. Scheduling interviews in advance afforded Penélope the ability to prepare her interview questions. During this process, she was often able to assess if/when there was a gap in her knowledge of the target language. As such, these premeditative encounters allowed her the time to seek out resources to help her bridge this knowledge before engaging with in-the-moment encounters. This contrasted with Petra’s SSP internship, as she did not have the opportunity to engage in any premeditative work. As described, even though she could check the clinic schedule and patient charts, these tools did not always provide much information. Furthermore, existing patients rescheduled often, and there was no guarantee that they would seek care concerning an ailment reported in their previous visit(s). An artifact that Penélope utilized consistently to prepare during these premeditative encounters was a small, physical notebook. Within this notebook, she would detail important background information, write interview questions, and include any key points she wanted to hit on during the interview. The information she chose to include would often consist of specific terminology that she did not know previously in Spanish but would need to be produced during the interview (e.g., professional titles, such as real estate agent). Therefore, she almost always carried this notebook with her to interviews and utilized it as a tool to help mediate the gaps in her knowledge and guide her to complete her professional duties. In addition to mediating her linguistic skills, this traditional artifact helped Penélope to construct the identity of a Competent and Bilingual Journalist. To take on this position,

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she had to successfully conduct an interview in Spanish smoothly and proficiently. Although Penélope was generally successful when utilizing this traditional artifact, she did seek other types of artifacts to mediate her linguistic knowledge during premeditative encounters. An additional type of artifact that she reported often utilizing during such encounters was technologybased artifacts. Mediation by Technology as an Artifact

Technology has become an ever-present factor in daily life for much of the world. Whereas many instructors may discourage learners from using technology-based artifacts while completing tasks inside and outside the classroom, María and Penélope utilized different technologies to scaffold their EX-LL. Indeed, the increased availability of technology-based artifacts “provide[s] new opportunities for self-directed learning” (Godwin-Jones, 2011, p.  4). Specifically, María and Penélope reported using two different technology-based artifacts: (i) Google Translate and (ii) the Real Academia Española’s Diccionario de la lengua Española (Dictionary of the Spanish Language). Google Translate

While compiling the information she would include in her physical notebook that acted as a traditional artifact to mediate the gaps in her linguistic knowledge, Penélope often utilized a technology-based artifact to scaffold this knowledge further: Google Translate. In addition to Penélope’s self-report of using this tool, I observed this process in action. During my first observation, Penélope interviewed Miguel, a Mexican lawyer who formed part of a community-based group that worked to facilitate pro bono legal services to immigrants in the Phoenix Metro area. As described in Chapter 4, as we waited for Miguel to finish his mediation session, Penélope led me to the School of Journalism, where we would “hang out” before grabbing lunch and returning to the law firm. During this time, we went to the edit bay that the Phoenix Reportaje had claimed and made into their own collaborative space. One of her colleagues who typically worked on the “Money” beat at the Phoenix Report was putting together a story in Spanish that would air during one of the Phoenix Reportaje newscasts. As Penélope worked on completing her own tasks, he would ask her for assistance writing a script for his package. Upon coming to a term they were unsure of, they would turn to Google Translate to find the word they were looking for in Spanish. Like with Petra, I asked Penélope to reflect on why she chose Google Translate as her go-to artifact.

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Interview, 05–04–18 Penélope: I feel like it’s just the easiest thing. Usually when I write up a document, or something in Spanish, or even when I write script, we just share it through Google Drive. I feel like it’s the most accessible because we all have our email is [sic] through Gmail. Google Drive is just the one that really allows us to be able to share things. It’s just easier, just go from Google Translate to that or use that because it can help with access and stuff in comparison to Microsoft. Google is just a lot easier to share and collaborate.

Penélope cited convenience as one of the main factors for choosing this translator. As her team utilized other Google products, it seemed logical to keep everything “in-house” by using Google Translate. Nevertheless, from a pedagogical standpoint, other technology-based artifacts could have scaffolded her linguistic knowledge more explicitly and effectively. Although she had high proficiency in Spanish, Penélope may have benefited from utilizing a different technology-based artifact that would have provided more in-depth explanations and examples of discrete words. For example, many other online dictionaries (e.g., Reverso, WordReference) provide a variety of lexical items with contextualized explanations and examples. There are also corpus-based tools (e.g., Linguee) that provide contextualized explanations and examples and allow the user to input both single words and phrases. For this reason, I followed up by asking if she had ever received any formal training on technology-based artifacts, such as translators, in her language or other SSP classes. She replied that she had not but felt it would have been useful to receive such instruction as she had encountered various issues when utilizing these artifacts (e.g., inaccurate, direct translations). While Penélope used this technology-based artifact to help bridge her gaps in linguistic knowledge, María used an online dictionary for a much different purpose. Real Academia Española

Technology-based resources can carry their own ideologies of which users may or may not be aware. This is the case for a resource that María used. As an aspiring producer/reporter, María was also required to carry out tasks for her internship that allowed her time to prepare and discover gaps in her knowledge before being faced with in situ encounters. For example, as a producer, María would create and edit scripts for the Phoenix Reportaje televised newscasts and Facebook Live shows. Additionally, as a reporter, she would engage in research and create questions for interviews. Although María also used Google Translate for everyday items, she reported consulting the online dictionary of the Real Academia Española (RAE) to make

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linguistic choices that reflected the “formality” of the Spanish language she sought to represent. Interview, 02–26–18 María: . . . palabras que quizás nosotros pensamos que no son correctas, pero se usan como quiera. Como alguien me dijo, “checar.” No. Uno “verifica” o uno “chequea,” pero uno no “checa.”

. . . words that maybe we think aren’t correct, but are used anyways. Like someone told me “checar” [to check]. No. You can “verifica” or “chequea,” but you don’t “checa.”

So, otro ejemplo que me dio, “aseguranza.” Sí puede ser coloquialmente aceptado, pero chequea la RAE [Real Academia Española] y yo creo que “aseguranza” – no sé si está aceptado o no. Es “seguro médico,” “seguro de casa,” whatever. So, entonces uno tiene que mantener esa formalidad.

So, another example that they gave me was “aseguranza” [insurance] Yes, it could be accepted colloquially, but check the RAE [Real Academia Española] and I think that “aseguranza” – I don’t know if it is accepted or not. It’s “seguro médico,” “seguro de casa,” whatever. So, you have to maintain that formality.

Her choice to use the RAE reflected her perception that linguistic proficiency and a commitment to an academic standard variation were markers of a Hispanic/Latinx identity. Although, as we saw in Chapter 2, María had decided to reject the ideological pressure to conform to an industrydriven neutral standard by committing to her Puerto Rican variety (with all of its stigmatized features), her journey of constructing an identity as a Puerto Rican Producer and Journalist in the Southwest continued. Specifically, in rejecting one standard variety, she embraced another. Her exposure to U.S. Spanish varieties common in the Southwest marked by stigmatized features (e.g., arcaísmos, calques, borrowings, codeswitching) different from her own Puerto Rican variety discussed in Chapter 2 shaped her perception that a high level of linguistic proficiency (in personal and professional contexts) and commitment to an academic standard (void of U.S.-Spanish stigmatized features) were markers of a Hispanic/Latinx identity. Whereas the industry standard represented a “synonym for ‘uniform’ ” in which the principal focus was the privileging of certain phonological features, the standard that María embraced was “more judgmental; it suggests ‘something to aspire to,’ ‘something excellent,’ ‘the best there is,’ or ‘the paradigm case’ ” (Corson, 1994, p.  273). In spite of the on-going debate regarding the actual existence of a standard variety, this academic standard

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commonly “has been the variety of an elite upper class with a certain level of formal education, the so called ‘norma culta,’ of some regions of Latin America (with the Castilian variety now apparently downplayed in this respect)” (Villa, 1996, p. 194). To dig deeper, towards the end of the semester, the SSP instructor/internship coordinator asked the interns to read an article regarding the future of the Spanish language in the U.S. and record a video response. In her video diary, María again referred to language loss and the idea of a “correct” Spanish in Arizona: Video diary, Week 13 María:

En términos de mi pasantía, he notado que el español en Arizona, sin duda alguna, se va perdiendo con el tiempo y con las generaciones. A veces cuando salgo a entrevistar a personas, puede ser un poco difícil encontrar a un hispano que hable español, que se sienta cómodo hablándolo y además que hable un español correcto. Sé que no existe realmente un español “correcto,” pero si hay términos y reglas lingüistas y gramáticas que se deben seguir. Y he notado que muchas veces, líderes políticos latinos en el estado, son los primeros en tener la falta de este conocimiento lingüístico. Eso dice mucho del español en Arizona. Se asume que, porque “lo hablo en mi casa,” o “lo hablo con mis abuelos,” sea suficiente español para dirigirme a la comunidad latina. Cuando realmente, en mi opinión, no es el caso.

In regard to my internship, I’ve noticed that Spanish in Arizona, without a doubt, is getting lost with time and with each generation. Sometimes when I go to interview people, it can be a little difficult to find Hispanics that speak Spanish, that feel comfortable speaking it and furthermore that speak a correct Spanish. I know that a “correct” Spanish doesn’t really exist, but there are linguistic and grammatical concepts and rules that should be followed. And I’ve noticed that many times, Latino political leaders in the state, they are the first ones to lack this linguistic knowledge. That says a lot about the Spanish in Arizona. It’s assumed that because “I speak it at home,” or “I speak it with my grandparents,” it’s a sufficient level of proficiency of Spanish to address the Latino community. When really, in my opinion, that’s not the case. (Continued)

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(Continued) En mi opinión, es considerado una falta de respeto a la riqueza lingüística de nuestro idioma. Pienso que si un líder político, líder comunitario u empresario importante va a adherir a este tipo de retórica, debe comprometerse al uso apropiado y lingüísticamente correcto del español.

In my opinion, it’s considered a lack of respect for the rich linguistic system of our language. I think that if a political leader, community leader, or important businessperson is going to adhere to this type of rhetoric, they should ­commit to using an ­appropriate and linguistically correct variety of Spanish.

Although the article centered around the Spanish language within the U.S. in general, María chose to focus her response on the state of the Spanish language in Arizona. When stating that she had noticed that “el español en Arizona, sin duda alguna, se va perdiendo con el tiempo y con las generaciones,” María referred to the concept of language shift. This is a process “whereby the native language spoken by a particular group is abandoned in favor of the language spoken by members of another group as a result of extended contact between them” (Vélez, 2000, p. 6). In referring to this process, she tied the loss of language within the state to generational immigration. She illustrated her point by citing experiences she had while carrying out duties for her SSP internship and courses. For example, when looking for community members to interview, she found it challenging to find Hispanics who both had “maintained the language” and felt comfortable speaking it in this professional context. Although she did not mention it in this specific video diary, in our other interviews and conversations, she cited her positionality to the community as a potential contributing factor. Specifically, she focused on her status as a nonlocal NS who did not share the local language variety. She related this position as contributing to the fact that many friends and new acquaintances were often self-conscious and hesitant to speak with her as they felt as though she would “judge” their linguistic proficiency. Other elements of her response also signal hegemonic language ideologies regarding an academic standard Spanish variety. In the beginning of her response she stated, “Sé que no existe realmente un español ‘correcto,’” only to follow this statement with a long “pero,” after which she eventually calls for the commitment to “[el] uso apropiado y lingüísticamente correcto del español.” The contradiction verbalized in this statement could represent another instance of competing discourses, specifically those to which she was exposed through her communities at Southwestern University and back home in Puerto Rico.

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To explain, during our first interview, María recounted that she first began to take Spanish courses at Southwestern University to prevent the attrition of her L1. This decision again could potentially point to the anxiety of losing her puertorriqueñidad via language loss. Situated within a predominately English-speaking society and institution, she stated, “Me di cuenta que al uno hablar en inglés todos los días, incluso el Spanglish, se pierde [el español]. Y no quería que eso me pasara” (I realized that upon speaking English every day, including Spanglish, one can lose their Spanish. And I didn’t want that to happen to me.) (Interview, 02–26–18). To combat language loss, she signed up for her first Spanish class, choosing an advanced course for HL learners. With the goal of fostering language maintenance, instructors at this university were encouraged to use sociolinguistically informed teaching methods and critical language pedagogy to support HL learners in the process of validating their language use (Beaudrie et al., 2014). In doing so, many instructors tackled hegemonic language ideologies by not only “addressing the social and political reasons why certain language varieties and practices have been systematically subordinated, but also [examining] how such subordination has been carried out” (Leeman, 2005, p.  41). Additionally, as illustrated through Penélope’s journey in Chapter 4, many of the SSP courses address issues related to the Hispanic/Latinx communities within the U.S. As such, María was likely conscious of the social justice foundation of these programs that formed a large portion of her coursework. Therefore, by stating, “Sé que no existe realmente un español ‘correcto,’” María may have been reproducing the discourse to which she had been exposed in these classes. Yet the words that immediately followed this statement – “pero si hay términos y reglas lingüistas y gramáticas que se deben seguir” – contradicted the idea that there does not exist a “correct” Spanish. Instead, this statement reflected a different rhetoric that reinforced the notion of a standard variation that should be held in higher esteem than stigmatized varieties, such as the U.S. Spanish variety commonly found in Arizona and other regions of the Southwest. This ideology that dominated María’s reflection could be linked to her status as an “NS” of Spanish from Puerto Rico. As discussed in Chapter  2, the Spanish language has become a pillar of Puerto Rican identity on the island and a symbol of their unity, despite the island’s classification as an unincorporated territory of the U.S. Having grown up in Puerto Rico, where Spanish has remained the socially dominant language, María was surrounded by NSs of Spanish in the majority of, if not all, social discourses. Unlike the local Latinx/Hispanic leaders in Arizona then, who she assessed as “lacking” linguistic knowledge of the standard, the leaders in her own community could produce a more “professional” register of the language. Although the RAE does have a Spanish-language dictionary (Diccionario de la lengua española), the reason for which María chose to use this

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particular resource was to judge if certain words complied with her idea of a “formal” and standard variety. This is particularly problematic as scholars have criticized the RAE (e.g., Loza, 2017; Lynch & Potowski, 2014) for its role in perpetuating hegemonic language ideologies and devaluing other Spanish varieties, such as the U.S. Spanish varieties present in Arizona and other parts of the Southwest. To illustrate this point, we look to the RAE’s self-proclaimed history. According to its website, “la institución se ha dedicado a preservar – mediante sus actividades, obras y publicaciones – el buen uso y la unidad de una lengua en permanente evolución,” or, “the institution has dedicated itself to preserving – through its activities, works, and publications – the proper use and unity of a language in continual evolution” (my translation) (Real Academia Española, n.d., para 2). The fact that phrases such as “buen uso” are included in the institution’s mission emphasizes their commitment to preserving a specific type of language while perpetuating hegemonic language ideologies. As this institution is regarded as a ruling force on the Spanish language by many speakers, learners, and professionals, such a hegemonic discourse stance has real consequences, such as in María’s case. Specifically, “due to the prestige and authority of institutions like RAE, speakers adhere to prescriptivist approaches to Spanish, thus contributing to the acceptance of hegemonic ideologies supported by these dominant institutions” (Loza, 2017, pp.  60–61). Therefore, by utilizing this socially biased tool, María’s own prescriptivist ideologies and practices were strengthened, “contributing to the acceptance of hegemonic ideologies.” Mediation by Others

The premeditative encounters that both María and Penélope were afforded at their internship sites also allowed them time to seek the guidance of experts. Within an SCT framework, this practice falls under mediation by others (or the help of others). This can manifest via implicit and/or explicit feedback, as well as the orientation of an expert within the ZPD. As a reminder, the ZPD is “the distance between the actual developmental level as determined by independent problem solving and the level of potential development as determined through problem solving under adult guidance or in collaboration with more capable peers” (Vygotsky, 1978, p. 86). Experts

María and Penélope had developed working relationships with both the newscast supervisor of the Phoenix Reportaje and the newscast supervisor of Frontier News (at the Phoenix Report). As such, they felt comfortable seeking out their help when needed, such as the example given by Penélope:

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Interview, 02–17–18 Penélope:

So, a lot of the time, it’s kind of like talking it out with other people. So, like, the newscast supervisor of the Reportaje – I’ll be the one that I’m, like, “Hey, I wrote this word, and I don’t think it’s right.” And then they’ll be like, “No, no, no. It’s this.”

While working on her internship duties, “talking out” any issues or doubts that would arise with an expert was a helpful strategy in scaffolding their linguistic knowledge. To do so, Penélope would often seek assistance from the newscast supervisor of the Phoenix Reportaje, who acted as an expert to help guide her through this process. When I asked María about the resources that she utilized, she first mentioned the technology-based artifacts that she would use independently before explaining how she sought out help from various experts depending on her location: Interview, 04–27–18 María:

A veces trato de ir a Univisión o Telemundo website y busco casos similares. Y entonces, me pongo a ver y después ver una palabra que podría utilizar, voy a la RAE [Real Academia Española]. Uso la RAE como 10 veces al día para confirmar qué sería la palabra apropiada. Y si no, depende de dónde esté, si estoy ahí en campus, le pregunto a la supervisora del Reportaje o al supervisor del Report. Por aquí, le pregunto a los presentadores.

Sometimes I try to go to Univision’s website or Telemundo’s website, and I look at similar cases. I start to look, and after finding a word that I could utilize, I got to the RAE [Real Academica Española]. I use the RAE like 10 times per day to confirm that it would be the appropriate word. And if not, depending on where I am, if I’m on campus, I ask the supervisor of the Reportaje or the supervisor of Frontier News. Around here, I ask the reporters.

In her response, María mentioned two new technology-based artifacts: the websites of two international news channels (i.e., Univision, Telemundo) that likely published information with industry-specific terminology. She also referred to the experts with whom she had created relationships in various settings. Depending upon where she was working, she would call upon the assistance of the newscast supervisors of both the Phoenix Reportaje and Frontier News or seek guidance from Spanishlanguage reporters currently working at professional news channels in the local community. The wide variety of professional connections she had made allowed her to expand her potential resources and array of experts to

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mesh conveniently with her physical location and the content of her specific gaps of information. Implications for EX-LL/LSP Pedagogy and Internship Design: Expanding and Providing Instruction on Communicative Strategies and Communicative Competence

As discussed, language users of all backgrounds will likely experience breakdowns in communication, especially when completing tasks that are highly specialized to a specific field. María’s, Petra’s, and Penélope’s experiences highlight the innovation and nuances of choosing and implementing different CSs. Not only do CSs serve the purpose of mediating their learning and completion of tasks with community members and other social actors, but they also have unique social functions. The knowledge gleaned from the interns’ experiences illuminates opportunities to expand on CSs and communicative competence to call attention to and better analyze the complex relationship between language and society. Additionally, providing instruction on communicative competence and the related CSs to learners participating in EX-LL and LSP courses will provide support as they undoubtedly employ these strategies to mediate their knowledge and complete tasks pertinent to their language development. Identifying New Communicative Strategies

As described throughout this chapter, while carrying out their SSP duties, María, Petra, and Penélope implemented innovative CSs while bridging breakdowns in their discourse with community members. To account for such strategies, I propose the expansion of the current communicative repertoire to include the strategies outlined in Table 5.3. Preparing Students: Communicative Strategies, Translanguaging, and Technology

It is important to identify the different types of CSs that EX-LL, SSP, and LSP students utilize while engaging with social actors, including “nontraditional” CSs (e.g., translanguaging, technology as an artifact), and understand the social functions that they serve. Instructors can ensure that students are adequately prepared for these encounters by providing them opportunities to learn about, practice, and reflect on different CSs, translanguaging practices, and technology as an artifact to bridge professional tasks. Instruction on and Opportunities for Communicative Strategies

The findings in this chapter support the earlier presented notion that CSs are not only for L2 learners, but other language learners and users (i.e., NSs, HLs)

Strategic Knowledge in Professional Discourse  177 TABLE 5.3  Proposal of New Communicative Strategies and Categories

Proposed CS

Definition

Resource Deficit

“Gaps in speakers’ knowledge preventing them from verbalizing messages” (Lafford, 2004, p. 203) Demonstration of a target item/action using kinesthetic movements Speakers’ use of discursive elements (e.g., sound, word, phrase) to buy time while utilizing technology to bridge a gap in communication (e.g., translating an unknown target language item by means of Google Translate) Expresses the sentiment of the ideological movement that celebrates a bilingual’s/ multilingual’s abilities and takes into account their full range of semiotic resources, including those afforded through digital mediums

Circumlocution via gestures Fillers for stalling to use technology (e.g., Google Translate)

Translanguaging

Mediation by (Traditional) Artifacts

Traditional tools in one’s environment that permit cognition and/or the ­completion of a task

Mediation by Technology as an Artifact

Technology-based tools in one’s ­environment that permit cognition and/or the completion of a task Use of Google to inform cultural differences Translation of an unknown target language item by means of an online translation tool

Google for cultural mediation Online translation tools (e.g., Google Translate, Real Academia Española’s Diccionario de la lengua Española) Websites in the target language (e.g., Univision website, Telemundo website) Mediation by Others

Utilization of websites in the target language that publish information with industry-specific terminology The help of others which can manifest in implicit and/or explicit feedback (Vygotsky, 1978)

also employ these metacognitive processes during discursive events. Although individuals may be “classified” differently through terms such as L2 learners, HL learners, local NSs, or nonlocal NSs, the students in EX-LL/ LSP programs are united as learners of their professional practice. As each student is learning how to utilize the target language to facilitate some type

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of professional support or service within their field of study, there will inevitably be “gaps” in their linguistic and/or cultural knowledge. Therefore, it is necessary to offer training on different CSs and opportunities to practice using CSs (e.g., roleplays, recorded authentic conversations while carrying out LSP duties) and reflect on the linguistic and social implications of their choices. Instruction on and Opportunities for Translanguaging as a Communicative Strategy and Multilingual Practice

Another pedagogical implication that serves to aid EX-LL/LSP students in preparing for the demands of the professional world centers around the multilingual nature of the workplace. As Littlewood and Yu (2011) explain, “for many decades, foreign language teaching has been dominated by the principle that teachers should use only the target language (TL) and avoid using the mother tongue (i.e., L1) except as a last resort” (p. 64). This principle is reflected in language classes that implement a “target language only policy” in which the use of an L1 is reprimanded in different ways, such as participation penalties and other forms of grade reduction. Although teachers should “aim to make maximum use of the TL” (Turnbull  & Arnett, 2002, p.  211), exclusive language policies are not reflective of the environments that EX-LL/LSP students will most likely face upon entering the workforce. In the case of María, Petra, and Penélope, translanguaging was not only found to be an important practice for their identity work but also a necessary practice while engaging in their internships. Although each of these students was completing an internship with the goal of utilizing Spanish to interact with and facilitate services for local Hispanic/Latinx community members, their internship sites were situated within larger English-dominant institutions. As such, not only were they required to interact with English-speaking interlocutors, but the majority of materials and technology (e.g., EMR system, video editing software) with which they were required to work was in English. As such, each had to draw on and develop their English linguistic systems to successfully carry out their daily tasks. Taking into account the dominance of the English language on a societal level in the U.S. (and in other countries), translanguaging skills are often required for individuals working within community sites that solely facilitate services in Spanish. This was the case for María, who, in addition to completing an internship at the Phoenix Reportaje, was pursuing professional experience as a producer/reporter at a national Spanish-language network. Given the prevalence of translation and interpretation in LSP, I asked María during our first interview if she had any experience or interest in either. She responded:

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María:

No me interesa tanto la traducción, pero me he dado cuenta aquí específicamente en Estados Unidos – por ejemplo en esta organización, todos los comunicados de prensa – la mayoría nos llegan en inglés. Y todas las noticias y las notas son inglés, pero el show es en español.

I’m not really interested in translation, but I’ve realized that here in the United States specifically – for example, in this organization, all of the press releases, the majority of them arrive to us in English. And all of the news and the new stories are in English, but the show is in Spanish.

So, todos los días sí estás trabajando de traductor, basically. So, no me interesa ser una traductora, pero es inevitable si voy a trabajar aquí.

So, yeah, every day, you are working as a translator, basically. So, I’m not interested in being a translator, but it’s inevitable if I’m going to work here.

Despite not having an interest in translation or interpretation, María explained that engaging in such practices is an inevitable element of working as a professional within the mainland due to the influence of English as a dominant language within the larger society. In addition to engaging in translanguaging to complete EX-LL/LSP internship duties, this multilingual practice may already be a resource that students who do not fit into certain categories (e.g., identifying as White with “standard” English as an L1) feel required to use to navigate racial boundaries and access similar opportunities and privileges as other students. Such was the case for Petra. As described in Chapter 3, Petra is a Black woman who worked in a professional program and community site that privileged certain attributes and ideals (e.g., “standard” English, standards of White European beauty standards). Petra was often penalized for her use of Ebonics via racialized treatment and denial of opportunities (e.g., her role as scribe for the Racist Doctor at the Phoenix Community Clinic, broadcasts at the Phoenix Report). As such, Petra learned to strategically utilize her multidialectism in both Spanish and English to increase her social and labor mobility within these discriminatory environments. The experiences of María, Petra, and Penélope demonstrate the need for students to engage their entire linguistic and semiotic repertoires if they are to successfully have careers in which they utilize LSP in the U.S. As such, it is imperative that EX-LL/LSP programs move beyond coursework that allows only the use of the target language and instead extend the curriculum to include instruction and opportunities for translanguaging as a powerful and social multilingual practice. Therefore, special attention should be given to translanguaging as an acceptable multilingual practice and powerful CS

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during students’ preparation. In the case of the latter, students should be exposed to the theoretical underpinnings, social implications, and high frequency of this multilingual practice within professional contexts in the U.S. (and potentially other countries). With this as a base, instructors should then provide students with opportunities to experience (e.g., authentic digital or physical realia) and practice (e.g., roleplays) this CS in authentic contexts related to their future professional duties. Instruction on and Opportunities for Mediation by Technology as an Artifact

Throughout their SSP internships, María, Petra, and Penélope each utilized technology to bridge gaps in their knowledge. Despite technology’s prominent role in mediating their learning, none of the interns had received formal education on how to utilize technology in this way. When writing on the influence of technology in language learning, Blake (2013) explains that the language profession must move beyond a simple computer functional competence (knowing how to use the tools) toward both a critical competence (realizing what the tools are good for) and then, finally, to a rhetorical competence (understanding how these tools will help transform the learning environment). (p. xvii) Applying this call to action to EX-LL/LSP programs, instructors must provide students with education and practical experiences in effectively and appropriately utilizing technology as an artifact to bridge professional tasks. Given the ubiquity of technology in both the personal and professional lives of language students, I  encourage language instructors to embrace Fields’ (2014) “mischievous idea” that what educators typically perceive as cheating “can be a kind of new literacy, important for navigating digital media, digital spaces, and everyday life – even school – if we think about it in a particular way.” Drawing upon observations of children engaging in gameplay within digital spaces, Fields (2014) described how the concept of “cheats” and “cheating” had become a normalized aspect of many games. Working together or individually, gamers utilize and create cheats to assist them in playing a particular game their own way (individualization) and getting past difficulties they may encounter (mediation). Although “cheating” is framed within the context of digital spaces and gaming, such a concept can be extended to other areas of life, such as language learning. In this context, students are often taught that using online translators or other technology-based artifacts is “cheating,” resulting in the rejection and banishment of technological tools inside and outside the classroom. However,

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as illustrated throughout the journeys of our interns, technology can be a powerful tool for language mediation and a required element of one’s professional role. In contrast to many language-learning classrooms that reject the integration of technology, these interns were allowed, and even required, to utilize technology to mediate their linguistic knowledge and internship duties. Having said this, none of the participants reported receiving instruction on which resources to use or how to use them. Therefore, answering Fields’ (2014) call for scholars to extend cheating as a “new literacy” to other disciplines, EX-LL/LSP pedagogues can incorporate the principles of “cheating” within their classrooms. Perhaps it could be presented to students as “taking advantage of technology mediation” as an avenue to instruct students on how they can use technology-based artifacts to meet their own needs and goals (individualization) and how to get past difficult concepts or encounters (mediation) both inside and outside of the classroom. One such example is for instructors to identify the types and purposes of technology students utilize while carrying out professional duties. After identifying these elements, the instructor can create short mini-lessons (inperson/for review digitally) or compile resources that outline how students can maximize the potential of such artifacts. To exemplify this point, identifying when and where to place accents in written discourse is a difficulty that many students who are considered Spanish HL learners experience due to acquiring the language within a more familial-/community-based context that takes place primarily through aural exposure (Beaudrie, 2017). In fact, Penélope reported at both the onset and conclusion of the research process that accents in written Spanish were her “biggest nightmare” (Interview, 0217–18) despite having received explicit instruction on this grammar topic. This orthographic practice was a reoccurring issue when Penélope used technology-based artifacts (e.g., Google Docs, Microsoft Word) to write out scripts for her news stories as well as when she utilized different social media applications (e.g., X (previously Twitter), Facebook) to reach out to community members as potential interviewees/ sources. Given that these tools have built-in spell-check features, they could have turned into powerful tools to both aid in the completion of her internship duties and mediation of her knowledge of Spanish orthography. However, this was not the case as Penélope had not received instruction regarding changing the spell check language in word processing/social media applications on a laptop or mobile devices. Instructors can first build their “functional competence” and “critical competence” by surveying and observing the role and affordances of different tools pertinent to bridging professional tasks for students in different disciplines. Then, moving towards building their “rhetorical competence,” instructors inform themselves on the most effective and appropriate ways to harness these tools for specific purposes. Similar to instruction on CSs and

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translanguaging, it is important that educators incorporate both authentic models and opportunities to practice utilizing technology in this way. Once students have seen this process modeled, it would be valuable for instructors to scaffold the process with the students. By assisting students in identifying and utilizing technology as mediating artifacts, instructors can help these individuals become autonomous in building their own functional, critical, and rhetorical competencies beyond the EX-LL/LSP courses and instead as independent professionals. Communicative Competence

In addition to the expansion of the CS repertoire (see Table 5.3), Chapters 2–5 have shown that despite coming from unique backgrounds and representing what some consider as distinct speaker classifications (i.e., L2, HL, nonlocal NS), each intern engaged deeply in linguistic-, ethnic-, and racial-based identity work that transcended the goals of the SSP program. This identity work was informed by language ideologies held by the interns, their interlocutors, and the social context in general, which influenced the types of storylines they operated and the positions available to take up and be assigned. To date, none of the communicative competence models proposed by scholars, including that of Bachman and Palmer (1996), have specified a construct that accounts for the influence of these factors on a speaker’s ability or success in communicating in a target (first, second, heritage, or other) language. The construct that most closely approaches those described in this chapter is sociolinguistic knowledge. Even so, it focuses on the necessary knowledge of linguistic variation to transmit and understand a message versus a critical sociolinguistic approach which is “concerned with a critique of ways in which language perpetuates inequitable social relations” (Pennycook, 2001, p. 6). Furthermore, such models do not highlight one’s willingness to communicate (WTC), a phenomenon from the field of psycholinguistics, as a factor in a speaker’s communicative competence. Originally a construct related to L1 use, WTC was later applied to the field of communication by McCroskey and Baer (1985). Making its way to the field of SLA, this term has come to be defined as “the probability of engaging in communication when free to choose to do so” (MacIntyre et al., 1998, p. 546). Critical Knowledge: A New Construct

Using the analyses of the interns’ EX-LL experiences as a foundation, informed by poststructuralist theories of identity and Critical Applied ­ Linguistics (CALx) (Pennycook, 2001) first introduced the Preface and Chapter 1, I propose an expansion to the communicative competence model (Bachman  &

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Palmer, 1996) to include the establishment of critical knowledge as a principal construct that includes the notion of WTC. The proposed construct of critical knowledge refers to the complex interplay between the elements involved in a speaker’s identity, willingness, ability, and success in constructing social discourse with interlocutors (see Figure 5.1). Following the framework and design I  used for this book, the newly established construct (and its subsequent sub-constructs) are designed to be viewed through an ecological approach to language learning (van Lier, 2004). To reflect such a perspective, I have created a cyclical infographic to represent the interactive nature of communicative competence. Going beyond the interpretation that each item is a discrete and impermeable piece, each element is then connected by multi-colored arrows to represent interconnectivity instead. I advocate for scholars to frame their own research and practice through such an ecological approach. By doing so, practitioners can create a space that moves beyond the static conceptualization of communicative competence, allowing for profound analyses of the complex relationships of each construct and sub-construct. To operationalize the complex interplay between the elements involved in a speaker’s identity, willingness, ability, and success in constructing social discourse with interlocutors, I propose the following sub-constructs for critical knowledge: (i) power-based knowledge and (ii) positional knowledge (see Figure 5.2) Power-based Knowledge

María’s, Petra’s, and Penélope’s internship experiences demonstrate the relationship between language and society, which serves as the foundation

FIGURE 5.1 

An Updated Model of Communicative Competence

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FIGURE 5.2 

Critical Knowledge and Its Sub-Constructs

of CALx. Recognizing this relationship, the sub-construct of power-based knowledge refers to elements that shape social actors’ perceptions on a personal, institutional, societal, and global level. Examples of such elements are language ideologies and the various social, political, and economic tensions at play (see Figure 5.2). Each of these elements has been highlighted in the interns’ experiences throughout Chapters 2–5. Positional Knowledge

Drawing upon positioning theory (Davies  & Harré, 1990; Harré  & Van Langenhove, 1991), the sub-construct of positional knowledge refers to how discourse and social interaction enable particular types of identities to be claimed or assigned to others and how this positioning process can sometimes unravel without us wanting it to. The elements involved in this social process are discourse (mode and purpose), storylines, and positions available to be taken up and/or assigned by others (see Figure 5.2). Not only do the sub-constructs of power and positioning offer an avenue to better understand the social and intrapersonal elements at play during discourse construction, but they also offer an arena in which to explore the developmental relationship between identity and communicative competence.

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Takeaways and Points for Continued Reflection

This chapter has reviewed how María, Petra, and Penélope employed CSs to bridge breakdowns in communication during their SSP internships and the potential social functions of these strategies. The following “Takeaways and Points for Continued Reflection” are offered to help you reflect on your LSP programs and apply information to support language learners and users of all backgrounds and experiences.

Takeaways and Points for Continued Reflection • Begin to reflect on the CSs that you, as a language user, may have or continue to use. ○ Do you notice any patterns in your use of CSs? ○ What are the social functions of the CSs that you choose to employ? • Become familiar with the CSs that your students are implementing (e.g., through observations, classroom roleplays). ○ What types of breakdowns in communication are they experiencing? ○ What kind of support could they be offered to mitigate any future breakdowns of this kind? ○ Which types of CSs are they implementing (if any)? ○ Are there any CSs they could implement to overcome the breakdown in communication more effectively? ○ What are the social functions of the CSs that they are employing? • Brainstorm how you can incorporate your knowledge of CSs and their social functions into your own practice to support students’ linguistic proficiency and identity work. ○ What type of in-class activities can you include to provide students with the opportunity to practice using CSs (e.g., roleplays, recorded authentic conversations while carrying out LSP duties)? ○ Are students aware of the social functions their chosen CSs are playing? • Brainstorm how you can incorporate your knowledge of translanguaging as a CS in your classes. ○ What are students’ beliefs and experiences around translanguaging? ○ What types of languages are present in their community sites? It is important to remember that they might not only be spoken (e.g., EMR system). ○ How can you provide support and encourage translanguaging as an acceptable multilingual practice and powerful CS? ○ What technology are students currently using as a mediator? ○ Are there other options that would be more efficient? Have they received training on these technologies?

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• What role does power-based knowledge play in the experiences of your students? ○ How are elements, such as language ideologies and social, political, and economic tensions, shaping your students’ perceptions on a personal, institutional, societal, and global level? ○ How are these elements shaping the social actors’ perceptions on a personal, institutional, societal, and global level that are present at your students’ community sites? ○ What support can you provide your students to reflect on and navigate power-based knowledge? • What role does positional knowledge play in the experiences of your students? ○ How are discourse and social interaction enabling the particular types of identities that your students desire to claim? ○ How are discourse and social interaction enabling the particular types of identities (desired or undesired) that are being assigned to your students by community members and other social actors? ○ What type of support can you offer them to navigate positional knowledge?

Notes 1 In order to comply with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA), I was prohibited from audio/video recording the interactions between Petra, the patients, and any staff during medical visits. With the consent of all participating parties, I was, however, able to observe the visits and take field notes which served as the foundation for the linguistic analyses of Petra’s CSs. 2 Includes only instances of translanguaging as a way to bridge a breakdown in communication. 3 María later clarified in more depth that the nook “es un término para el tipo de toma/shot que íbamos a usar para ese segmento [de la noticiera]” or “is a term for the type of shot that we were going to use for that segment [of the newscast]” (Member Check Text Message, 08–04–18). 4 “Olivia” was the only community member from the Phoenix Community Clinic in this chapter that did not participate in an interview. As she did not participate in an interview, she was not included in the Community Member Characteristics table in Chapter 1. 5 Additional instance of message abandonment. 6 This interpretation, as well as those in Lines 8 and 11, are only possible interpretations that Petra could have utilized. Although she was unable to come up with these target forms, these words would have most likely been understood by the patient had they been used. 7 Whereas in the Puerto Rican variety, both coger and agarrar can mean “to take” or “to grab,” in other varieties (e.g., Argentinian, Mexican), coger takes on a vulgar meaning. 8 The acronym CG refers to character generator, or the graphics that appear during a broadcast. The purpose of CGs is to provide important information for viewers (e.g., names, titles, locations).

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Reference List Bachman, L. F., & Palmer, A. S. (1996). Language testing in practice. Oxford University Press. Beaudrie, S. (2017). The teaching and learning of spelling in the Spanish heritage language classroom: Mastering written accent marks. Hispania, 100(4), 596–611. Beaudrie, S., Ducar, C., & Potowski, K. (2014). Heritage language teaching: Research and practice. McGraw Hill. Bernstein, K. (2014). Learning English as an L2 in pre-K: A practice perspective on identity acquisition [Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of California at Berkeley]. Blake, R. J. (2013). Brave new digital classroom: Technology and foreign language learning. Georgetown University Press. Canale, M., & Swain, M. (1980). Theoretical bases of communicative approaches to second language teaching and testing. Applied Linguistics, 1(1), 1–47. Corson, D. J. (1994). Minority social groups and nonstandard discourse: Towards a just language policy. Canadian Modern Languages Review/La revue canadienne des langues vivantes, 50, 271–295. Daneman, M., & Carpenter, P. A. (1980). Individual differences in working memory and reading. Journal of Verbal Learning and Behavior, 19, 450–466. Davies, B.,  & Harré, R. (1990). Positioning: The discursive production of selves. Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour, 20, 43–63. Dörnyei, Z. (1995a, March). Communication strategies: What are they and what are they not? Paper presented at the Annual Conference of the American Association for Applied Linguistics (AAAL), Long Beach, CA. Dörnyei, Z. (1995b). Communication strategies: An empirical analysis with retrospection. In J. S. Turley  & K. Lusby (Eds.), Selected papers from the proceedings of the 21st annual symposium of the desert language and linguistics society (pp. 155–168). Brigham Young University. Dörnyei, Z., & Scott, M. L. (1997). Communication strategies in a second language: Definitions and taxonomies. Language Learning, 47(1), 173–210. Fields, D. (2014, October). Connected play: Mischievous cheating for serious learning. [Video]. YouTube. www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMAhs3qw2Jk Firth, A. (1996). The discursive accomplishment of normality: On ‘lingua franca’ English and conversation analysis. Journal of Pragmatics, 26, 237–259. Godwin-Jones, R. (2011). Emerging technologies: Autonomous language learning. Language Learning & Technology, 15(3), 4–11. Hampel, R. (2015). Theoretical approaches and research-based pedagogies for online teaching. In R. Hampel & U. Stickler (Eds.), Developing online language teaching: Research-based pedagogies and reflective practices (pp.  134–149). Palgrave Macmillan. Harré, R.,  & Van Langenhove, L. (1991). Varieties of positioning. Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour, 21(4), 393–407. Irvine, J. T.,  & Gal, S. (2000). Language ideology and linguistic differentiation. In P. V. Kroskrity (Ed.), Regimes of language: Ideologies, polities, and identities (pp. 35–84). School of American Research Press. Jindal, M., Bajal, E.,  & Sharma, S. (2023). A  comparative analysis of established techniques and their applications in the field of gesture detection. In P. Chatterjee, M. Yazdani, F. Fernández-Navarro, & J. Pérez-Rodríguez (Eds.), Machine learning algorithms and applications in engineering (pp. 73–91). CRC Press. Lafford, B. (1995). Getting into, through and out of a survival situation: A comparison of communicative strategies used by students studying Spanish Abroad and ‘At

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Home.’ In B. F. Freed (Ed.), Second language acquisition in a study abroad context (pp. 97–121). John Benjamins. Lafford, B. (2004). The effect of context of learning on the use of communication strategies by learners of Spanish as a second language. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 26(2), 201–226. Leeman, J. (2005). Engaging critical pedagogy: Spanish for native speakers. Foreign Language Annals, 38(1), 35–45. Littlewood, W., & Yu, B. (2011). First language and target language in the foreign language classroom. Language Teaching, 44(1), 64–77. Liu, M., Schallert, D. L., & Carroll, P. J. (2004). Working memory and expertise in simultaneous interpreting. Interpreting, 6(1), 19–42. Loza, S. (2017). Transgressing standard language ideologies in the Spanish heritage language (SHL) classroom. Chiricú Journal: Latina/o Literatures, Arts, and Cultures, 1(2), 56–77. Lynch, A.,  & Potowski, K. (2014). La valoración del habla bilingüe en los Estados Unidos: Fundamentos sociolingüísticos y pedagógicos en Hablando bien se entiende la gente. Hispania, 97(1), 32–46. MacIntyre, P., Dörnyei, Z., Clément, R., & Noels, K. (1998). Conceptualizing willingness to communicate in a L2: A situated model of confidence and affiliation. Modern Language Journal, 82(4), 545–562. McCroskey, J. C., & Baer, J. E. (1985, November). Willingness to communicate: The construct and its measurements. Paper presented at the annual convention of the Speech Communication Association, Denver, CO. Pennycook, A. (2001). Critical applied linguistics: A critical introduction. Routledge. Poplack, S. (1980). Sometimes I’ll start a sentence in Spanish y termino en espanol: Toward a typology of code-switching. Linguistics, 18(7–8), 581–618. Real Academia Española. (n.d.). Historia de la Real Academia Española. www.rae. es/la-institucion/historia Stam, G., & McCafferty, S. G. (2009). Gesture studies and second language acquisition: A review. In G. Stam & S. G. McCafferty (Eds.), Gesture: Second language acquisition and classroom research (pp. 3–24). Routledge. Turnbull, M., & Arnett, K. (2002). Teachers’ uses of the target and first languages in second and foreign language classrooms. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 22, 204–218. van Lier, L. (2004). The ecology and semiotics of language learning. Kluwer Academic. VanPatten, B., & Williams, J. (Eds.). (2014). Theories in second language acquisition: An introduction. Routledge. Vélez, A. J. (2000). Understanding Spanish-language maintenance in Puerto Rico: Political will meets the demographic imperative. International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 142, 5–24. Villa, D. J. (1996). Choosing a “standard” variety of Spanish for the instruction of native Spanish speakers in the U.S. Foreign Language Annals, 29(2), 191–200. Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Harvard University Press. Wei, L. (2011). Moment analysis and translanguaging space: Discursive construction of identities by multilingual Chinese youth in Britain. Journal of Pragmatics, 43(5), 1222–1235. Whitehead, C. (2007). The doctor dilemma in interprofessional education and care: How and why will physicians collaborate? Medical Education, 41, 1010–1016. Zentella, A. C. (1997). Growing up bilingual: Puerto Rican children in New York. Blackwell.

6 RAISING OUR THINKING ABOUT CRITICAL ENGAGEMENT WITH THE COMMUNITY

Introduction

As I  have demonstrated throughout this book, institutional practices and language discrimination in the United States (U.S.) have led to a discrepancy in Hispanics’/Latinxs’ access to high-quality services and resources. It has been documented that their barriers to access can “result from their low socioeconomic status; others are due to several specific features of the Hispanic population .  .  . degree of acculturation, language, and immigration status” (Escarce & Kapur, 2006, pp. 410–411). As a result of anti-bilingual ideologies enforced and perpetuated through modern and historic state and national legislation (e.g., English Only Movement, SB 1070), the needs of these community members are likely not being met due to the often hostile and discriminatory environment in which they live. I  have also proposed that languages for specific purposes (LSP), particularly Spanish for specific purposes (SSP), and experiential language learning (EX-LL) may be a way for academic institutions to increase Hispanic/Latinx community members’ access to high-quality services. In doing so, I have advocated that our engagement with the community be rooted in mutual collaboration, especially when working with members from minoritized communities. Moving from theory to practice, I introduce a practical map that LSP and EX-LL researchers, program developers, and students can utilize to continue raising our thinking about critically engaging in the community. This map focuses on (i) frameworks for collaborating critically with (minoritized) communities and (ii) frameworks for engaging in critical EX-LL research and evaluation in the community.

DOI: 10.4324/9781003257141-6

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Frameworks for Collaborating Critically With (Minoritized) Communities

Before creating relationships between (minoritized) communities, we must be cognizant of and reflect upon the frameworks we, as educators, students, researchers, and program developers, have available to create these partnerships appropriately and critically. A Critical and Decolonized View on Community Engagement and Research

EX-LL and/or research that involves the community will inevitably have some type of impact on the community. It is the responsibility of both those shaping the intervention (e.g., researcher, program developer, instructor) and those carrying out the intervention (e.g., researcher, research assistants, students, interns) to ensure that the impact is not harmful to the community. Instead, the community should benefit from the intervention in some way. This is especially critical when the community members come from marginalized groups. One necessary way we can work toward foregrounding mutual and respectful collaboration between participants (e.g., researchers, interns) and community members is to reflect on our philosophies of engaging the community through EX-LL and research and our relationships with community members. As I shared in the Preface, graduate school was vital in my formation as a critical ally, linguist, and community-based researcher. Guided by wonderful mentors, I  moved from taking an egocentric and potentially damaging approach to trying my best to prioritize the needs of community members and understand the history behind why these needs exist in the first place. In continuing my career as a researcher, I have also committed to ensuring that participants are beneficiaries of the research instead of bystanders. Something that has aided me greatly in doing so is taking a critical and decolonized view on research and community engagement, where I  seek to collaborate directly with community members (Tuck & Yang, 2014). This is not always easy, and I cannot emphasize enough that it is a continuing journey of learning, reflection, and trying to do better. Stereotypes and Humantypes

Taking a critical and decolonized approach to community engagement and research requires an intensive and continual reflection on how minoritized community members are and have been viewed in socio-political and historical contexts. One example is making the ideological distinction between stereotypes and humantypes and striving to use the latter. Stereotypes are often negative, static portrayals that enforce the us/them dichotomy and derive

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from a place of distance and unknowing. On the contrary, humantypes “can only emerge once we get to know one another as complex, multifaceted, and dynamic individuals” (Gallo, 2017, p. 8). For example, stereotypes portray Hispanics/Latinxs as criminals and narcos, whereas humantypes emphasize their human journeys and may portray them humanly depending on the context (e.g., parents, friends). By thinking of our community members in a holistic and humanistic way, researchers and those involved in community engagement work towards breaking down the us/them dichotomy, allowing us to create respectful and meaningful relationships more effectively. Benevolent Racism

Being aware of stereotypes and focusing on perception through humantypes can also play a role in halting destructive ideologies that do not always come from a place of malintent. One such behavior is engaging in benevolent racism, or viewing of minoritized individuals through a deficit lens (Villenas, 2002). In an educational setting, a teacher could enact benevolent racism by giving a student from a minoritized background a higher grade than their performance deserves because they “sympathize” with their past and circumstances. For example, they may give a student classified as an Englishlanguage learner a higher grade on their writing assignment because they believe it is too hard for a non-native English speaker, and they do not want to discourage the student. Assuming an individual’s skills and capabilities passed on their race, ethnicity, or language acquisition, among other elements, is harmful to that individual and does not foster their ability to reach their full potential. Damage-centered Perspectives and Desire-based Research

Another common destructive ideology that may seem empathetic or even alluring to persuade and move other members of privileged social groups emotionally is taking a damage-centered perspective. Damage-centered perspectives and research “look[s] to historical exploitation, domination, and colonization to explain contemporary brokenness, such as poverty, poor health, and low literacy” and “operates, even benevolently, from a theory of change that establishes harm or injury in order to achieve reparation” (Tuck, 2009, p. 413). In a damage-centered framework, “pain and loss are documented in order to obtain particular political or material gain” (Tuck, 2009, p. 413), and elements of resiliency and strength are ignored. These perspectives ultimately perpetuate negative stereotypes and continue to tether minoritized individuals to pain. Harnessing a damage-centered perspective, researchers working with Indigenous youth could (and often have) form their scholarship on the sole viewpoint that colonialism has and continues to be

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imposed on their communities. There is no discussion of the youths’ vision for change or their resiliency. Instead, Tuck (2009) advocates for desire-based research, which does account “for the loss and despair, but also accounts for the hope, the visions, the wisdom of lived lives and communities” (p. 417). This approach considers the past and future to contextualize analyses concerned with “understanding complexity, contradiction, and the self-determination of lived lives” (Tuck, 2009, p. 416). Returning to our example of working with Indigenous youth, in their 2020 study, Gahman et al. do review the damaging effects colonization has and continues to have on Indigenous (specifically Mayan) communities, but with the purpose of contextualizing the researching “politically and conceptually, in Central American and Caribbean countries” (p. 619). They move beyond tethering the youth to their pain and presenting them as agentless victims by instead taking a desire-based approach. In doing so, the researchers focus on the political agency of these Mayan youth and how they are “mobilizing in a historical-structural context that was expressly arranged to be hostile towards the Maya’s very existence” (Gahman et al., 2020, p. 619). Charity Models

Similar to damage-centered perspectives are charity models in which “volunteer work tends to be disconnected from a critical analysis of history and society and is often based on the perspective that the individuals and groups being ‘served’ are somehow deficient in expertise, knowledge, and skills” (Ochoa & Ochoa, 2004, p. 60). Moving away from charity models is especially relevant to EX-LL/LSP programs, as this perspective was born in service-learning as a pushback against individuals who wish to “serve” minoritized students and their families. To discourage a charity perspective in which community members are agentless victims, EX-LL/LSP and research programs should walk students and researchers through analyses of “structural inequality, power, and privilege” and include activities that “foster connections between college and community [to] enable students to link macro with micro issues, to become self-reflective and critical thinkers, and to envision strategies for producing change” (Ochoa & Ochoa, 2004, p, 63). Pity Perspectives

Damage-centered and charity model perspectives may also lead to relationships based on pity instead of humility and trust. Minoritized community members have already passed through very difficult situations, often without the assistance of allies. By taking a pity perspective, the community members’ previous experiences are brushed away as they are placed in the role

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of a victim instead of as active agents in their own lives and communities. In addition, relationships based on pity can lead to low expectations, ultimately underestimating and providing a disservice to these individuals (Gallo, 2017). Coalitional Possibilities

Researchers, program developers, and EX-LL/LSP students, among other actors, can engage in these types of profound reflections to understand and foster their relationships with communities. One method is to promote coalitions or allyships between researchers, program developers, students, and community members. As a first step in promoting coalitions or allyships, we must return to the argument made in Chapter  1 that LSP users/learners come to the field in diverse ways. They may come from the “target” community. They may have had little or extensive contact with the community. They may be interacting with the community for the first time. Chávez’s (2013) notion of coalitionality can be harnessed for LSP users/learners with different experiences to work with community members to “address oppression and power at its roots and to utilize difference as a resource rather than a hurdle to be overcome” (p. 7). Coalition has a variety of meanings, such as (i) various and separate parts coming together, (ii) organic or spiritual “growing together,” (iii) (politically) unions, fusions, and combinations designated for certain kinds of action, (iv) temporary and goal-oriented, and/or (v) group that comes together around a particular issue to accomplish a specific goal (adapted from Chávez, 2013, p.  7). For Chávez (2013), coalitionality is an opportunity for people who may not typically come together to unite and rally around an issue – such as advocates in queer politics and migration politics. Drawing on Queer Women of Color Feminism, coalitionality is viewed as: the space where two seemingly different things merge and remain separate. It is also the space where the distinction between entities blends and blurs. Coalition connotes tension and precariousness in this sense, but it is not necessarily temporary. It describes the space in which we can engage, but because coalescing cannot be taken for granted, it requires constant work if it is to endure. (Chávez, 2013, p. 8) As hinted at in this definition, coalitions can manifest as long-lasting or brief alliances. As such, Chávez (2013) utilizes coalitional moments to conceptualize the “temporal and spatial dimensions and refer to the possibility – fleeting or enduring – of a coming together, or a juncture, for some sort of change” (p. 9).

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Allyships

Reiterating the cautioning that successful and long-lasting coalescing requires all parties to nurture the relationship continuously, it is crucial we understand the elements of power at play and reflect on their impact. One approach we can take is to ground the notion of allyship within the larger concept of coalitionality. Allyship has been defined as a proactive, ongoing, and incredibly difficult practice of unlearning and reevaluating, in which a person of privilege works in solidarity and partnership with a marginalized group of people to help take down the systems that challenge that group’s basic rights, equal access, and ability to thrive in our society. (Nfonoyim-Hara, 2016) As researchers, program developers, educators, and students, we all have opportunities to engage and foster allyships in different research- and LSPbased coalitional moments. Researchers may be allies when designing a study that ensures respectful and mutually beneficial interactions with community members. Program developers and educators may strive to serve as allies by creating EX-LL opportunities rooted in respectful and mutually beneficial interactions with community members. They may also incorporate critical pedagogy and practices into their curriculum to encourage students to reflect on their own privilege and positionalities to community members so that they, too, can also become allies when engaging in EX-LL. Students may apply the critical pedagogy and practices to which they are in their courses to become allies to community members when engaging in the EX-LL experiences. Whatever the case, as evidenced in the previous quote, privilege is a critical concept that we must understand and reflect on to move forward in our work in becoming allies. Historically, discussions around privilege most often have focused on gender and race/ethnicity and attribute five principal characteristics to this concept: First, privilege is a special advantage; it is neither common nor universal. Second, it is granted, not earned or brought into being by one’s individual effort or talent. Third, privilege is a right or entitlement that is related to a preferred status or rank. Fourth, privilege is exercised for the benefit of the recipient and to the exclusion or the detriment of others. Finally, a privileged status is often outside of the awareness of the person possessing it. (Black & Stone, 2005, p. 244)

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Reflecting on Coalitions, Allyships, and Privilege

How can we reflect on privilege and take action to engage in allyships during coalitional moments? Positionality and reflexivity are prominent in qualitative research, which can be extended to LSP students engaging in EX-LL. Positionality Through Poststructuralist Identity Theory

From a high level, positionality in research is the “disclosure of how an author’s racial, gender, class, or other self-identifications, experiences, and privileges influence research methods” (Massoud, 2022, p. S64). Extended to LSP students engaging in EX-LL in the community, positionality could be perceived as the “disclosure of how an author’s racial, gender, class, or other self-identifications, experiences, and privileges influence their community engagement.” When conceptualizing our positionality, it is important to note that although we must anticipate our positionality to both the sites and the social actors within these spaces, these relations are apt to change as relationships change and evolve. Poststructuralist identity theory offers a promising framework for us to ground and iteratively reflect on our positionality. Although gender and race/ ethnicity are important domains, purely focusing on this dichotomous classification does not allow us to explore the intersectionality between individuals’ multiple identities (positioned by themselves or others) and other social factors. Returning to a poststructuralist approach to identity, identities are viewed as being constructed by individuals and other social actors within different discourses that span different times and spaces. As we have discussed, positioning theory (Davies & Harré, 1990; Harré & Van Langenhove, 1991) posits that social interaction enables particular types of identities to be claimed or assigned to others and can sometimes unravel unintentionally. Different identities and positions have different implications when it comes to privilege and, therefore, allyship. In the case of community-based research, a researcher may have multiple identities when working with the same community members. Perhaps the researcher is a second-generation immigrant working with other immigrants of the same culture. Within the discursive event of carrying out a “SemiStructured Interview,” they may take up and/or be assigned different positions, such as a Fellow Community Member, a Listener, an Advocate, and an Investigator, among others. In the case of community-based EX-LL experiences (e.g., internship), a student may also have multiple identities. Let us again assume that a student who is also a second-generation immigrant is interning as a legal interpreter for other immigrants of the same culture. Within the discursive event of

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“Interpreting,” the intern may take up and/or be assigned various positions, such as a Fellow Community Member, an Ally, an Informational Source, and a Gatekeeper of Specialized (e.g., Legal) Knowledge, among others. The interlocutors may operate different storylines or take up/assign different roles, resulting in discourse that can have a different meaning for each party. The various positions may also have distinct implications when it comes to privilege. Relevant to this approach to identity, Black and Stone (2005) pushed beyond a dichotomous categorization of privilege and instead grounded the concept of privilege in oppression to be able to explore the interaction between multiple positionalities and domains of privilege. Their definition of privilege also creates a space to analyze the impact of privilege on both those with the dominant status and those who are oppressed. Specifically, they define social privilege as “any entitlement, sanction, power, immunity, and advantage or right granted or conferred by the dominant group to a person or group solely by birthright membership in prescribed identifies” that is expressed through “race/ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, SES [socioeconomic status], age, differing degrees of ableness, and religious affiliation” (p. 245). This conceptualization also challenges the belief that individuals are unaware of their privilege. Although those with privilege may sometimes be unaware of their status, they may also be aware of it but are “disinterested.” Therefore, it is further argued individuals have social privilege when “they can look on prejudice, bigotry, and conferred dominance with detachment. This detachment may be demonstrated through a lack of involvement in the eradication of or the responsibility for privilege and oppression” (Black & Stone, 2005, p. 246). Thus, a position of privilege enables individuals to be shielded and distanced from those oppressed. An exemplary model of how we can reflect on our positionalities and privileges to move toward building coalitions and allyships can be found in the work of Anthony-Stevens (2017), an educational anthropologist who focuses on Indigenous education. To begin to understand her roles and responsibilities as a Euro-American researcher, Anthony-Stevens reflects on her individual ideologies and her connection to and positionality within historical ideologies. As one of her goals is cultivating an allied stance, she explains her obligation for a “deep understanding of who I am recognized to be within the ethnohistoric context of Indigenous communities, as well as an active cultivation of who I want to be recognized as in relationship with others” (2017, p. 90, emphasis maintained). To continue (re)educating herself on the ethnohistory of the specific context of Indigenous communities, she draws upon critical theories to guide her through understanding the dominating and imposed ideologies that have been influential (for an additional example of a racial and critical raising consciousness-based framework, see Milner IV, 2007). In addition to prioritizing understanding and positioning herself critically within the history of the community, Anthony-Stevens (2017) focuses on her

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role as a critical ally, which requires knowing in what situations it is appropriate to step up as an ally and when to step back. The knowledge of navigating this delicate movement can be achieved by creating caring and trusting relationships with members of the minoritized community. In my case, as a researcher carrying out the study being discussed in this book, I included relationship building as a part of my research design. Through these relations, I sought to work collaboratively with community members to develop a space that housed dialogues regarding my (and perhaps interns’) privilege and positionality as an ally. An essential aspect of these dialogues is discussing how this privilege and positionality can be used to either further support or obstruct members’ goals and the goals of their community. Although Anthony-Stevens (2017) recognizes that relationships are one of the most important aspects of cultivating a role as a critical ally, she explains that they “involve vulnerability, risk, and humility” (p. 89). Therefore, it is vital we engage continually in reflections, both personal and methodological, to ensure the cultivation of these relationships in a respectful and positive manner. Reflexivity

Whereas positionality “refers to what we know and believe . . . reflexivity is about what we do with this knowledge” (Jamieson et al., 2023, p. 1). In research, reflexivity is “the process of engaging in self-reflection about who we are as researchers, how our subjectivities and biases guide and inform the research process, and how our worldview is shaped by the research we do and vice versa” (Jamieson et al., 2023, p. 2). Extended to LSP students engaging in EX-LL in the community, reflexivity could be the process of engaging in self-reflection about who we are as students and language users in position to the community, how our subjectivities and biases guide and inform how we interact with community members, and how our worldview is shaped by how we approach community engagement and vice versa. In both cases, the foundational question of the reflexive process is “What is the research/ community engagement processes, and how am I influencing it?” (Lazard & McAvoy, 2020). Whereas reflection is “often done retrospectively and typically leads to insights about details that were ‘missed’ in the original research process,” reflexivity is “the conscious, active acknowledgement of one’s own belief, bias, and judgement systems before, during, and after the actual [research/ community engagement] process” (Jamieson et  al., 2023, p.  1, emphasis maintained). We can draw upon various practices to engage continuously in reflexivity that helps support a study’s overall rigor and validity and fosters our ability to create coalitions and allyships, taking into account our privilege. Examples of such practices are presented in Figure 6.1.

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FIGURE 6.1 

Examples of Reflexivity Practices

Frameworks for Engaging in Critical EX-LL Research and Evaluation in the Community

The previous frameworks are essential to laying the groundwork for respectful and mutual community engagement for researchers, program developers, and students. In the previous chapters of this book, I have presented aspects of María’s, Petra’s, and Penélope’s journeys and proposed implications for EX-LL and LSP programming based on their experiences. In this section, I shift from EX-LL and LSP programming to another area in which students and program developers may engage: research and evaluation grounded in EX-LL and LSP. In the following sections, I highlight frameworks that these actors can utilize to engage critically and respectfully in EX-LL and LSP research and evaluation rooted in the community. Community-based Participatory Action Research

Researchers in academia and universities have begun traversing the traditional boundaries between academic and non-academic institutions to move toward collaborative research in three primary ways (Larner, 2017): 1) Public Engagement Strategies and Policies: Shifting from maintaining in the hands of academics and privileged groups connected to universities to disseminating results to a wider and more diverse audience (e.g., government agencies, cultural organizations, private industries) 2) Knowledge Transfer/Knowledge Exchange: Collaborating across borders between universities and non-academic institutions (e.g., firms,

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laboratories, government agencies) and recognizing non-university actors (e.g., think tanks) as knowledge brokers 3) Community-Oriented Research or “Community-Based” Approaches: Moving from simply implying participation of community stakeholders to positioning them as co-investigators (see Figure 6.2 for different examples of community-oriented research practices) Most relevant to those seeking to engage in EX-LL and LSP research rooted in the community are the community-based approaches (see Figure 6.2 for examples of such approaches). Community-based approaches are often used outside of academia. In fact, after graduating, I moved out of academia. I was hired at a full-service research and evaluation firm out of Miami, Florida, committed to engaging in community-based and culturally responsive and equitable research and evaluation. It was in the sphere of research and evaluation and monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) that I learned about and began implementing one of the aforementioned practices: Community-based participatory research (CBPAR). Although I wish I had learned about CBPAR much sooner to have incorporated its principles in the research presented in this book, I share this approach with the hope that others will also begin implementing it. CBPAR is an “approach to research in which researchers and community stakeholders (both individuals and organizations) form equitable partnerships

FIGURE 6.2 

Examples of Community-Based Research Approaches

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and co-construct research for the mutual and complementary goals of community . . . improvement and knowledge production” (Jagosh et al., 2015, p. 2). As compared to traditional methods, CBPAR challenges the traditional role of researcher versus participants, where the researcher holds all the power, and the participant is someone being “researched.” Instead, CBPAR invites participants and other community stakeholders to the table during the entire research process. Some of the benefits of CBPAR include: • Facilitate collaborative, equitable partnerships in all phases of research • Balance research and action for the benefit of all • Recognize community as unit of analysis • Build on community strengths and resources (assets) • Promote joint learning, skill-sharing, and capacity-building among all partners • Engage in a long-term process and commitment • Emphasize and engage in addressing the often complex causes of local problems • Disseminate findings and knowledge gained to all partners and involves partners in the process of taking action or next steps • Involve systems development through a cyclical and iterative process (Advancement Project, 2011, p. 8) There are a variety of means to carry out CBPAR. Advancement Project (2011) offers an excellent “lab guide” to implementing CBPAR that outlines the approach, benefits, research ethics, planning considerations, and important definitions. Figure  6.3 depicts how the Advancement Project (2011) defines the CBPAR process. Furthermore, Table 6.1 outlines common practices to engage the community in each part of the research process and the benefits of their participation. Community-based Participatory Evaluation

Although this section primarily focuses on research, program developers can evaluate their LSP program to ensure they are having the desired impact on all stakeholders, such as students, community members, and instructors.

FIGURE 6.3 

CBPAR Process Model (Advancement Project, 2011)

Raising Our Thinking About Critical Engagement  201 TABLE 6.1  Results of Community Participation in CBPAR (Advancement Project,

2011, p. 8) Community Participation in . . .

Results in . . .

Identifying issues

increased alignment with critical issues experiences from the community, empowers communities to take action and provides motivation to participate in process Development of study design and increased acceptability of study approach by stakeholders, possibility of funds for ­proposal submission community Planning and/or carrying out recruitment enhanced recruitment and retention and retention of participation Development of data collection tools increased reliability of results; helps and testing identify and better cope with potentially sensitive issues and solutions Development and implementation of greater cultural and social relevance to the action plan population of the community, increased likelihood of bringing about lasting positive change Analysis, interpretation, translation, increased validations of results, enhanceand dissemination of findings ment of translating findings into action

Research and evaluation are viewed as separate processes with distinct purposes and goals. • Research is defined as “an activity designed to answer specific scientific questions or test hypotheses, with the purpose of generating new knowledge to contribute to the scientific literature” (Braithwaite et  al., 2013, p. 214). • Evaluation is defined as “a way to obtain feedback or systematically gather information about a program or service, provide an accurate description, and make judgments about its strengths and weaknesses in order to improve its effectiveness. Evaluation can be outcome (summative) or it can also be formative (process) focused” (Klodawsky et  al., 2017, p. 312). As pointed out in the definition, the evaluation process not only allows program developers to assess if the program is having the desired impact on all stakeholders but also enables them to make actionable and data-driven decisions to improve the effectiveness of programs. This can be done as program activities are taking place (i.e., formative evaluation) and/or at the conclusion of a program period (i.e., summative evaluation).

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FIGURE 6.4 

Evaluation Framework (BetterEvaluation, 2014)

The fields of research and evaluation and MEL offer a plethora of approaches, frameworks, and tools to aid program developers in evaluating their programs. An example of a robust framework offered by BetterEvaluation (2014) is illustrated in Figure 6.4. Whichever approaches, frameworks, and tools are implemented, it is important that the program developer be well versed in research and evaluation methods to ensure that the evaluation process is carried out correctly and ethically. If this program developer does not have such experience, an individual with the necessary expertise must be responsible for all evaluation tasks. This role could be fulfilled by an internal staff member or an external evaluator. Just as there is CBPAR for researchers, there is community-based participatory evaluation (CBPE) for evaluators. CBPE has been broadly defined as a process by which those conducting an evaluation involve all who have a stake in its outcomes, with a view to these individuals’ and organizations’ taking action and effecting change on the basis of the evaluation . . . (going) beyond just being aware of stakeholder interest, in that there is a joint responsibility for the evaluation. (Springett & Wallerstein, 2008, pp. 200–201) Evaluators can engage the community in similar ways outlined in Table 6.1. In addition to those benefits, others include (i) participants value data being collected as they are invested in the process, (ii) validity and meaningfulness of indicators are supported, and (iii) innovative strategies are ideated

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as diverse individuals provide input on how to measure process, impact, and outcome (Springett & Wallerstein, 2008). Takeaways and Points for Continued Reflection

In this chapter, we have reviewed a practical map LSP and EX-LL researchers, program developers, and students can utilize to continue raising their thinking about critically engaging in the community. The following “Takeaways and Points for Continued Reflection” are offered to help you and your students/participants inform critical collaborations with the community, whether through research, evaluation, or an EX-LL experience.

Takeaways and Points for Continued Reflection • Encourage yourself and your students/participants to reflect on how they can build coalitions and allyships with community members. ○ What are your/your students’ positionalities to your research or community engagement? ○ How are you and your students iteratively engaging in reflexivity? ○ What are the coalitional possibilities for you, your students/participants, and the community? ○ What types of coalitional moments can you engage in with the community? ○ How can you and your students/participants build allyships with the community? ○ What types of identities are you and your students/participants taking up or being assigned when working with different social actors at the community sites? ○ For these different positions, what are the implications of privilege across different domains (e.g., race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, SES, age, differing degrees of ableness, and religious affiliation)? ○ Have there been moments when you have decided to support the community as a critical ally by either stepping up or stepping back? • How can you utilize the principles shared from CBPAR and/or CBPE in your work? ○ How will you ensure that the research and/or evaluation is mutually beneficial for community members?

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• Reflect on how you can strive to engage in humanizing research. ○ Is your work encouraging the colonial essence of research? ○ Are you or your students/participants viewing others through the lens of stereotypes or humantypes? How can you strive toward emphasizing humantypes and letting go of stereotypes? ○ Are you or your students/participants practicing benevolent racism? If so, how can you end this practice? ○ Are you or your students/participants taking a damage-centered perspective? If so, how can you move away from doing so? ○ Are you or your students/participants engaging in charity models? If so, how can you move away from doing so?

Reference List Advancement Project. (2011). A short guide to community-based participatory action research: A  community research lab guide. Health City – Community Research Lab. https://hc-v6-static.s3.amazonaws.com/media/resources/tmp/cbpar.pdf Anthony-Stevens, V. (2017). Cultivating alliances: Reflections on the role of nonIndigenous collaborators in indigenous educational sovereignty. Journal of American Indian Education, 56(1), 81–104. BetterEvaluation. (2014). Rainbow framework. www.betterevaluation.org/sites/ default/files/Rainbow%20Framework.pdf Black, L. L.,  & Stone, D. (2005). Expanding the definition of privilege: The concept of social privilege. Journal of Multicultural and Counseling Development, 33, 243–255. Braithwaite, R. L., McKenzie, R. D., Pruitt, V., Holden, K. B., Aaron, K.,  & Hollimon, C. (2013). Community-based participatory evaluation: The healthy start approach. Health Promotion Practices, 14(2), 213–219. Chávez, K. R. (2013). Queer migration politics: Activist rhetoric and coalitional possibilities. University of Illinois Press. Davies, B.,  & Harré, R. (1990). Positioning: The discursive production of selves. Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour, 20, 43–63. Escarce, J., & Kapur, K. (2006). Access to and quality of health care. In M. Tienda & F. Mitchell (Eds.), Hispanics and the future of America. (pp. 410–446). National Academics Press (US). www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK19910/ Gahman, L., Penados, F., Greenidge, A., Miss, S., Kus, R., Makin, D., Xuc, F., Kan, R., & Rash, E. (2020). Dignity, dreaming, and desire-based research in the face of slow violence: Indigenous youth organising as (counter) development. A Journal for and About Social Movements, 12(1), 616–651. Gallo, S. (2017). Mi padre: Mexican immigrant fathers and their children’s education. Teacher’s College Press. Harré, R.,  & Van Langenhove, L. (1991). Varieties of positioning. Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour, 21(4), 393–407.

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Jagosh, J., Bush, P. L., Salsberg, J., Macaulay, A. C., Greenhalgh, T., Wong, G., Cargo, M., Green, L. W., Herbert, C. P., & Pluye, P. (2015). A realist evaluation of community-based participatory research: Partnership synergy, trust building and related ripple effects. BMC Public Health, 15(725), 1–11. Jamieson, M. K., Govaart, G. H.,  & Pownall, M. (2023). Reflexivity in quantitative research: A rationale and beginner’s guide. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 17(4), 1–15. Klodawsky, F., Siltanen, J.,  & Andrew, C. (2017). Glossary. In F. Klodawsky, J. Siltanen,  & C. Andrew (Eds.), Toward equity and inclusion in Canadian cities: Lessons learned from critical praxis-oriented research (2nd ed., pp.  311–315). McGill-Queen’s University Press. Larner, W. (2017). Prologue: Turning the university inside out. In F. Klodawsky, J. Siltanen,  & C. Andrew (Eds.), Toward equity and inclusion in Canadian cities: Lessons learned from critical praxis-oriented research (2nd ed., pp.  25–31). McGill-Queen’s University Press. Lazard, L., & McAvoy, J. (2020). Doing reflexivity in psychological research: What’s the point? What’s the practice? Qualitative Research in Psychology, 17(2), 159–177. Massoud, M. F. (2022). The price of positionality: Assessing the benefits and burdens of self-identification in research methods. Journal of Law and Society, 49(Supp. 1), S64–S86. Milner IV, H. R. (2007). Race, culture, and researcher positionality: Working through dangers seen, unseen, and unforeseen. Educational Researcher, 36(7), 388–400. Nfonoyim-Hara, N. (2016). What is allyship? Rochester Racial Justice Toolkit. https://thetoolkit.wixsite.com/toolkit/beyond-allyship Ochoa, G. L., & Ochoa, E. R. (2004). Education for social transformation: Chicana/o and Latin American studies and community struggles. Latin American Perspectives, 31(1), 59–80. Springett, J., & Wallerstein, N. (2008). Issues in participatory evaluation. In M. Minkler & N. Wallerstein (Eds.), Community-based participatory research for health: From process to outcomes (pp. 263–288). Jossey-Bass. Tuck, E. (2009). Suspending damage: A letter to communities. Harvard Educational Review, 79(3), 409–428. Tuck, E., & Yang, K. W. (2014). R-words: Refusing research. In D. Paris & M. T. Winn (Eds.), Humanizing research: Decolonizing qualitative inquiry with youth and communities (pp. 223–248). SAGE Publishing. Villenas, S. (2002). Reinventing educación in new Latino communities: Pedagogies of change and continuity in North Carolina. In S. Wortham, E. G. Murillo Jr., & E. T. Hamann (Eds.), Education in the new Latino diaspora: Policy and the politics of identity (pp. 17–35). Ablex Pub.

INDEX

50-50 dual language immersion model 9 accent 47 – 51, 59 allyship xi, 193 – 197 applied linguistics (AL) xvi – xvii, 12 – 13, 19, 135, 162 approximation 136, 138 – 139, 149 archaism 107 asking for confirmation 137, 159 – 160 aspiration 52 – 53 benevolent racism 191 cafre 51, 55 – 58 CALx xv, 130, 182, 184 charity models 192 circumlocution 136, 140 – 141, 160 – 161 circumlocution via gestures 136, 141 – 143, 177 coalition 193, 196 – 197 coalitionality xi, 193 – 194 coalitional moment 193 – 195 code-switching 52, 148 communicative competence xxi, 13, 15 – 18, 85, 89, 115, 129, 176, 182 – 184 communicative strategies (CS) xix, xxi, 15 – 16, 86, 135 – 138, 166, 176 – 177, 183 community-based participatory action research (CBPAR) 199 – 201 community-based participatory evaluation (CBPE) 202

comprehension check 136, 140, 159 corporeal resistance xxi, 78 critical ally xii, xiv, 33, 36, 197 critical knowledge 183 – 184 critical language awareness 129 – 130 damage-centered perspective 192 denaturalization 93, 95, 97 – 98 desire-based research 191 – 192 dialogic engagements 198 differential bilingualism 35 – 36 discrimination 3, 6 – 10, 23, 48, 54, 93, 106 – 107 elision 49, 52 – 53 emotive word 113, 120 English only 8 – 9, 62, 66, 116, 189 erasure (erase) 49 – 51, 57 – 58, 82 evaluation xxii, 189, 198 – 199, 201 – 202 experiential language learning (EX-LL) xx – xxii, 12 – 13, 15, 18 – 19, 71, 99, 128 – 130, 134, 162, 168, 176 – 182, 189 – 190, 192 – 195, 197 – 199 experiential learning theory (ELT) 13 expressing nonunderstanding 137, 158 – 159 feigning understanding 35, 137, 158 filler 136, 154 – 157, 164 – 165, 177 fillers for stalling to use technology 136, 155, 177

Index  207

foreignizing 136, 146, 148, 164 – 165 fractal recursivity 49, 126 frenillo 54 generational immigration 61, 65, 116, 122, 172 ghetto 51, 56, 80 – 82 Google for cultural mediation 137, 162 – 163, 177 Google Translate 35, 137, 155, 162 – 166, 168 – 169, 177 heritage language learner (HL learner) xvi – xix, 18, 62 – 63, 65, 72, 74, 106 – 107, 109 – 110, 116, 118 – 119, 128 – 130, 135, 173, 177, 181 heritage language pedagogy (HL pedagogy) xvi, xviii, xxi, 35, 46, 62 – 63, 72, 118, 128 – 130 HERITAGE language (HL) x, xvi – xvii, xix, 61 – 62, 72, 105, 107 – 108, 110 – 123, 127 – 128, 151 humantypes 190 – 191 iconization 49, 52, 83 – 84 ideals of White beauty 71, 93, 97 – 98 identity theory 18, 195 internalization 162 internship 12 – 14, 17, 71, 100, 128, 176, 195 Jíbara 51, 53 – 55, 58 language-as-problem 35, 114 language-as-resource 35, 114 language-as-right 35, 114 language broker 101, 105 – 106, 119 language ideologies xi, xiv, xx – xxi, 45 – 53, 63 – 66, 78 – 84, 105 – 106, 115 – 116, 122, 126, 129 – 130, 172 – 174, 182, 184 language maintenance 60 – 62, 65 – 66, 118 – 119, 128 – 129, 173 languages for specific purposes (LSP) x – xi, xxii, 12 – 13, 15, 18, 71, 89, 99 – 101, 128 – 130, 134, 176 – 182, 189, 192 – 193, 195, 197 – 200 language shift 65, 116, 172 lateralization 52 – 53 lexical variation 54, 150 Lily Complex 96 linguistic discomfort xxi, 78, 85, 87 – 89, 146

mediation by artifacts 162 mediation by (traditional) artifacts 162, 166 – 168, 177 mediation by others 162, 166, 174, 177 mediation by technology 137 – 138, 161 – 162, 166, 168, 177, 180 member check 198 memos 198 message abandonment 136, 142, 145, 152, 186 microaggressions 6, 23 mobility (labor and social) 21, 79, 81 – 82, 93, 98 – 99, 179 multilingual/multidialectal xxi, 27, 78 – 79, 82 – 84, 87, 90, 92, 97, 139 native speaker (NS) xvi – xix, 18, 45, 62, 66, 71, 106, 117, 135, 173 neutral variety 47, 51 nonlocal native speaker (nonlocal NS) xix, 45, 62, 64 – 65, 72, 109, 128, 130, 135, 148, 172, 177, 182 omission 136, 145 online translation tools 177 other-performance problems 137 – 138, 154, 158, 160 own-accuracy check 136, 152 own-performance problems 136, 138, 140, 152, 157 Phoenix Community Clinic xv, 2 – 3, 5, 7, 28, 79, 84 – 85, 87 – 88, 90, 93, 100, 138 – 139, 143, 145 – 147, 166, 179, 186 Phoenix Report 20 – 24, 32, 48, 81, 98 – 99, 123 – 124, 126, 149, 160, 168, 174, 179 Phoenix Reportaje 2, 20 – 26, 30 – 31, 46 – 47, 51 – 53, 60, 81, 110 – 112, 114, 123 – 124, 126, 130, 140, 149, 151, 154 – 155, 166 – 169, 174 – 175, 178 phonetic positioning 126 pity perspective 192 positionality xi – xii, xiv, xviii – xix, 33, 35, 45, 58, 65, 68, 71, 74, 78, 92 – 93, 114 – 115, 126, 141, 147, 154, 159 – 160, 172, 195 – 197 positional knowledge 183 – 184 positioning theory xxi, 19, 78, 80, 95, 105, 184, 195 positions 11, 33, 71, 80 – 81, 86, 93, 95, 105 – 106, 115 – 116, 143, 160, 182, 184, 195 – 196

208 Index

possessive adjective 115 poststructuralist xviii, 15, 18 – 19, 50, 95, 143, 182, 195 power-based knowledge 183 – 184 privilege (privileged) xii – xiv, xvi, 33, 36, 46, 62, 96, 179, 191 – 192, 194 – 198 proposition 9, 106, 203 Puertorriqueñidad xx, 45, 47 – 48, 51 – 52, 55, 58 – 59, 62 – 65, 67 – 68, 73, 130, 148, 150, 173 reflexivity 195, 197 – 198 resistance 92 – 93, 96, 99 resource deficit strategies 136, 138, 142, 146 – 148, 150 – 151, 154 – 155, 157, 160 – 161, 177 restructuring 136, 152, 154 – 155 SB 1070 9 – 10, 62, 189 School of Journalism 20 – 21, 23 – 25, 45, 80 – 82, 105, 111, 123 – 124, 126, 157, 168 second language acquisition (SLA) xvi, xviii, 12 – 13, 19, 71, 135, 162, 182 second language learner (L2 learner) xvi, xviii – xix, 12, 18, 35, 74, 89, 109, 118, 176 – 177 second language (L2) xvi, xviii – xix, 12, 18, 27, 35 – 36, 71 – 72, 79, 89, 106, 109, 118, 128, 130, 135, 176 – 177, 182 self-regulation 162 self-repair 136, 138, 157 – 158 self-repetition 137, 154 – 155, 160

simultaneous interpretation 145 – 146 sociocultural theory (SCT) xxi, 161 – 162, 174 Spanish for specific purposes (SSP) x – xi, xiii – xv, xviii, xx, 1, 11 – 12, 27, 45, 63, 66, 78, 99 – 100, 105, 108, 110, 128, 134, 189 standard variety xxi, 45, 48, 51, 58 – 60, 72, 81, 170, 174 stereotype xiv, 52, 54, 62, 67 – 68, 105 – 107, 110, 116, 123 – 126, 190 – 191 storylines 50, 62, 71, 80 – 81, 83, 87, 95, 106, 130, 139 – 140, 155 – 156, 182, 184, 196 strategic knowledge xv, xxi, 1, 15 – 17, 135, 183 translanguaging 21, 25, 32, 44 – 45, 48, 52, 79, 82 – 84, 92, 136, 148 – 152, 176 – 179, 182, 186 transnational social field 72, 105, 113, 115, 126 U.S. Spanish variety (varieties) 60, 63, 106 – 107, 110, 148, 170, 173 – 174 websites in the target language 177 White beauty standards 97 willingness to communicate (WTC) 182 – 183 zone of proximal development (ZPD) 162, 174